bl1nk

Sorry, not to dissapoint but thats not an opinion. That is a statistical FACT. ANY car that has been repaintd (not just Mustangs) a color other than original factory color will lose tremendous value in a short amount of time. This is researched and proven by tons of people and companies. Go to any paint shop that knows what theyre talking about and they will tell you the same thing. It has to do with people being weary of fraud or a shady history of the car. If you paint your car red and it was originally black, people can look up the vin and see what the original color was and then they will question why it was totally repainted (usually because it was badly wrecked or totalled). Stats show people are less likely to buy a car that has been repainted a different color and will not pay the same for one that is a different color regardless of condition. Has nothing to do with the car becoming a collectible because I have seen many collectible cars have the colors stripped and painted but if you buy a car thats a collectible it has usually been totally redone and youre not worried about a damage to the car. That attitude changes when youre buying a car to actually drive around all the time.

FastShadow

^+1

Definitely agree with that. bl1nkage, sorry but that just doesnt make any sense whatso ever. Dont mean to be so frank but, how does repainting the car today in 2006 have anything to do with a shady history? Today, everything is based on vin#s and databasing. If the vehicle was damaged or hit, you should be able to pull its history. Now, ofcourse it is possible to alter and hide the history with the help of some shady shops, changing vin#s within the dmv main frame (anything with above 750$ worth of damage has to legally be reported to the dmv), etc etc. Now, about the value of the vehicle depreciating right away... why is it that many dealerships, esp in CA take brand new vehicles (cadillac, ferrari, etc) paint them exotic and custom colors and mark UP the vehicle's price by almost 200-400% of what the actual paint job costs? Check out all the exotic cars like, Ferrari F50, Lamborghini Murcielago's with exotic paints. Those cars are collectors items and extremely expensive. The owners of such vehicles probably would not want the value of their vehicles depreciate that drastically because they would be losing literally hundreds of thousands. But anyway, it comes down to opinion, not fact. Even if a paint shop says that, it is the paint shop's opinion.

demarcom

I say do what you want to your car. You're most likely not adding any value to the car at all, but that's with most mods. Repainting it is a serious investment that will cost big $. I would do it only if you intend to show the car and you just dont like ANY of the stock colors. Fords factory paint is by no means the greatest, but it's not terrible and you have quite a few shade options.

Professor Wizard

I"m into cars.... and the paint does make a difference...

bl1nkage is both right and wrong..

IF.. I take my 05' which is torch red, and decide I want it black... and have it painted black... NOT CUSTOM.. just change the color to black.. it WILL devalue my car over a period of time out to say 15 years.... It will make minimal differance between 15 and 25 years... and after 25 years the value of the car will increase regardless of color, however it WILL be worth MORE if 30 years later it is painted the VIN assigned color. (most cars have been repainted by the time they are 30 years old.) But of course, the MOST VALUABLE and sought after car at 30 years would be one that is in Factory configuration, as purchased, no damage, repairs, orginal paint and in nearly like new condition.

Now... if your talking a CUSTOM paint job.. THAT is a total CRAP SHOOT - - It completely relies on the impact to the buyer. If the buyer loves the paint work, and it is done professionally it can nearly double the value of the car...

Unfortunately, if all potential buyers hate the paint job, you will lose about 1/2 to 2/3 of your investment in the total car.

A good example would be Fooze cars.... they are just modular mustangs with the same stuff on them as we can do - - what is different is the paint job layout and design that only Fooze comes up with, which drasticly increases the value of the car..

Justabear

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, to all that provided input, I really appreciate the comments, it gives me something to think about.

Barry

bl1nk

As far as the shops yeah if Foose or B Coddington does a car its naturally going to go up in value despite being repainted.. its all about the name. And with the exotics.. its an exotic car.. which car is more likely to have been messed up and fixed.. a repainted Mustang or a repainted Ferarri? And if you dont believe me about the car depreciating look up resale prices on repainted vehicles, like I said before it has been tested and documented. Google is your friend.

FastShadow

Yeah. I do understand what you are saying bl1nkage, and i agree with you to an extent, but what you have to realize is that the value as well as initial retail is only relative to the perons interested as well as intial value of the vehicle and the work. So in essence, yeah an ugly paint job by an unknown painter will cause the value to depreciate, but a nice color by a well respected name would increase value. and like you said, a mustang is more likely to have been wrecked and had shady work done than an exotic. So it depends on the car too. There are alot of variables and factors involved, alot of which are contingent upon opinion basis.

callahan

I vote crazy

fairlane292

I pretty much agree with the Prof. I think I've seen every Foose mustang and while they are special paint schemes he's not changing the vehicle color. Just take a look at your engine compartment and front support sheetmetal; that alone isn't getting repainted for under 10k; Ford has a lot of colors covered, you'd have to move to something quite unique and you run the risk that it would not be marketable. My point is that folks are leary about a full color change; aside from exotics where money is no object noone is doing full color change on $25k new cars. So if you do one, you'll have the only one and that makes value a crap shoot at best. Folks like to know that they can go back to original if they want w/o any huge expense. If you could get it done for $15k, a buyer knows that in a few years it would cost 30, 40, 50% more than that to return to stock. It's like taking a long walk in the woods with little hope of going back. People aren't color changing cars in this price category and there are plenty of good reasons why. If you want a pretty significant color change do what Foose and others do. Change essentially the top surface of the car down just below the side windows, color changing the mirrors, upper door jam which is easy. Outline with a contrasting pinstripe and you've got something very distinctive that is easily returned to OE. Think of any three colors (starting OE color, top surface color, pinstripe color) and you can come up with some beautiful combinations. I know that this can be done for less money than a equally good top-quality painted stripe job. (much less w/o the pinstripe) Little more material, but a lot less labor. It's really just "one big stripe" and it doesn't ever touch the front or rear bumpers where conventional stripes are tricky. I've priced it. ..no comparison.

bl1nk

Agreed, Ill admit not EVERY repainted car (again depends on what car, who painted it, etc) will depreciate in value but the majority of them do. When we said his value was going to depreciate we were assuming he was going to a regular body shop just to have the thing painted a different color, not taken to a shop like B Coddington and have a customized paint job put on or anything. Cars that have customized jobs that dont cover the entire car, like fairlanes for example (flames on black) wouldnt necessarily lower value all that much just deter buyers that dont like flames, however cars that have the entire vehicle repainted a totally different color are ALMOST ALWAYS going to depreciate (unless of course its an exotic, the job was done by a big name customizer, the car is older and considered a classic or its a limited production car, stuff like that.)