Ebi

Hi all,

New user here in Southern California. Just a general question. I'm looking to buy a used (2014) Convertible V6 Premium with very low miles. The car is pretty well maintained and clean. It was originally factory painted in Ruby Red Metallic. The current owner completely repainted it in a small private body shop about a year ago in what he calls Racing Red. He showed me the invoice for about $4K. The body shop has some 5-star ratings on Yelp. They did a pretty good job in painting all of the door jambs, under the hood and trunk, and most of the engine compartment. The only problem I have is that they also removed or covered up all of the stickers, including the VIN stickers on all panels and doors, and all of the stickers in the engine compartment.

Does anyone think this could present a problem for me in the future? How do you think this affects the value? Should I negotiate the asking price down or is this actually adding value to the vehicle?

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

movielover40

Hard to beat a factory paint job.

I wonder if car was wrecked at some point and he repaired it.

A paint job by itself shouldn't cost 4 grand or he got ripped off.

Ebi

Thanks movielover40. I ran a carfax on the car and it shows no accidents. I also spoke to the guys at the body shop and they rememberd the car. They said there was no damage on the car and the owner just wanted a color change. The paint invoice was for $3500, plus a $400 add on for special clear coat and added pinstripes. It comes with a five year warranty. Maybe California prices or maybe he really got ripped off as you said.

Either way, the seller has paid for it and thinks this is an added value. I'm thinking it's not necessarily an advantage. I think you summed it up best when you said hard to beat a factory paint job.

Thanks again. I appreciate your quick response.

jz78817

not if they did it properly, especially for a color change.

anyway, to the OP, in my opinion at best it wouldn't change the value, at worst I'd knock off at least a grand. like he said, it's hard to beat factory paint.

88 orangepeel notch

There is no added value to the new paint, I'd actually consider it a con as I don't think it'll last as long as the factory color before fading or peeling. Also, that was the previous owners choice to do and you shouldn't have to help pay for it in any way.

Just my opinion though, good luck with your decision. And welcome to the forum.

Ebi

Hi 88orangepeelnotch. Thanks for your reply. I appreciate it.

Derf00

Depends on the quality of the paint job and the amount of labor put into as already mentioned. The problem with color changes is that unless the car was taken down to the body, there will always be parts that were not repainted. If they were repainting the same or similar color that's not a big deal but if they changed the colors and they were not complimentary, then for me personally, It would be a negative for me.

Complimentary would be. It was formerly black but then repainted race orange or any color really as black goes with everything.

Colors that are not complimentary to me, formerly red or blue and then painted orange or green, etc.

Ebi

Thank you Derf00. It was originally Ruby Red and repainted to Race Red. Slightly lighter shade or red but you can clearly see the difference in the engine compartment. As I mentioned in my original post it is a low mileage car (about 7K) and that was the draw. But I am walking away from the car at this point. Too many uncertainties. Thanks again.

ucinn

could be a blessing, because this 2012 paint from the factory isn't worth a ****. crows feet, chipping..ford paint has never been good, but they do make a good car.