groho

I'm very close to finishing up the loose ends on my coupe, and plan to pull the eng/tran to have it painted. I intend to trailer the car to 3 shops for estimates. The car is gutted, no windows, interior, etc. It'll be a rolling chassis when I drop it off. It's been mechanically sanded down to the metal, all bad panels replaced. I've never been through this and don't know really what to expect. If you've recently had your car painted, what are some of the items I want to insure I don't overlook when writing up the estimate? Help me identify a good shop from a cheezy shop. Currently the coupe has a light coat of etching primer over metal, to prevent rust from the months of work. I plan on epoxy primer, block sanding, with door jambs and eng bay painted. I've already identified 3 shops, one specializes in collision repair with hotrod body/paint on the side, and the last two do nothing but older cars. Of the two latter shops, one is so full of cars waiting to be done, you wonder if they can squeeze in another car. The other has a very small shop so the majority of the cars have to sit outside even through mid-work. The timetable on the first shop will likely be half from start to finish as compared to the other shops. Lookin forward to hearing from ya'll.

boogerschnot

All depends on the work quality you see.. keep in mind that if they haven't done the metal work they may not guarentee the finished product..

dodgestang

If it is currently in primer....expect just about every shop to say "We need to sand it down to metal"....

groho

I expect them to take the car down to metal. I personally took this car down to the metal with a DA and 80gt, removing five coats of whatever. The current etching primer is only there cuz it took several months to go through the car. The etching primer is so thin that two guys could completely sand this car down to metal in roughly two hours, by hand.

TexasAxMan

I asked my guy to take me through the whole process, step by step. I don't trust a thing they say if they can't explain the process without getting their shop manager or painter involved.

Find out what brand of paint they use. My guy used Glasurit, high end stuff. He also had a shop full of Bentleys, Ferraris, one Lambo, and many high end Beemers. See their finished product on any cars they have near completion.

Lastly, avoid "paint jail." My guy said 6 months, so I said after 9 months I got a 20% discount from quoted price, and had it written into the agreement. The job was done in 4 months.

Iskwezm

ha, i was quoted 4 to 6 months. 12 months later i went to pick my car up not running and in pieces and had to finish it myself and $1400 over budget.

dodgestang

This is common....here I am just about to enter month 12 of a 2 month project....still waiting for front/rear valances, a headlight bucket, finned tail light panel, panel alignment, and a wet sand/buff.

MonsterBilly

first of all, research the hell out of the shop.

Next get everything in writing. If they do not put a completion date in writing then DO NOT use them. Look around and see if there are any other customers around while they are writing your estimate, and ask them about their experience. I would not give more than 40% down and the final upon completion. An honest quality shop will work with you. If the shop is reluctant to start with, be wary. Their is probably a reason for it.

Walk the car in detail and have them explain to you everything they will be doing, write it down as they say it. Then once they have prepared their quote, compare your notes to their quote make sure everything matches. Also, be realistic. Paint results are very subjective. If you are paying 4-5k for paint, do not expect a 10k outcome.

Also, ask them to write out a schedule. How many weeks for each phase, body work, primer, paint, clear, and final detailing. As stated above, if it goes past a certain time frame you should get a discount off the quoted price. Not some inflated price they may be stroking you to cover their ***. Also, make sure that if any additional charges are incurred, you must first approve in writing. NO EXCEPTIONS.....

cashs mom

Mine was in the shop for better than 12 months to be painted. It looks great now though so it was worth it.

Iskwezm

one last thing, NEVER EVER tell them, "no hurry,its a project". They will put it to the side and use it as a filler for the shops down time.