Biscuit

My body has a fair number of scratches not limited to a single body panel unfortunately. I'd like to just have the body resprayed with the stock color.

I had a shop give me a quote for respraying the body panels with scratches and they came back with a quote of around $5,000. Won't be going back there but it did make me wonder what to expect to pay for a full paint job? I know some people on here have had some paint jobs done and I'm not looking to change color. Door sills and such wouldn't need to be done -- exterior only.

What's everyone's thoughts?

rlddlr53

if someone scratched your car, file a vandalism claim and pay the deductible.

doom239

heck you could go with maaco there having a $299 respray LOL JK

Biscuit

No, it's nothing like that. I wouldn't file a claim anyways though unless it was BAD because it would raise my rates.

Biscuit

You know, I almost said "And no MAACO." but thought the second I did I would offend somebody who had a maaco job.

chris.bachman

http://www.maaco.com/ - If you're looking to save on the cost.

Otherwise be prepared to pay an arm & a leg for a quality job that looks like factory MB paint and uses the same hardness clearcoat. The paint and quality of work will only be as good as the money you spend.

If you want to give it a shot with some touch-up by yourself I use products from http://www.paintscratch.com/ and wouldn't try anything else after the quality I see from them.

doom239

do you have a picture? my friends a body expert I can show him it and see what he thinks.
also how deep are the scratches?

LOL if you look at there web site the first car you see is a Mercedes LOL

Biscuit

Nah, I don't want to go the maaco route. Just looking for what others have paid to give me an idea on cost that's all. Not sure if aho still hangs out around here but I believe he had a full paint job done. Be curious to see what he paid.

Biscuit

I can get some pictures and send to you. A couple of them are beyond the primer though unfortunately.

I'll try to get some in the next couple days and send to you - much appreciate any input you get from him.

Thanks!

doom239

If its only one side and one stright line it should cost no more then 2k but if you got more then that I would expect to pay more. MB paint is really expensive because of the clear coat.

Gramma_Benz

I'm just now having my NEW front bumper painted, cost was $500-$600 by itself.

BTW, I had an unfortunate run in with a raccoon at 75mph. It was covered by my insurance under Comprehensive, so it will not affect my premiums. If it was an accident that would be covered under collision, then your rates go up. Comprehensive is things like rock chips, animals, etc.

moosejaw

Im no body expert but i can do math
I would think $5000 would do a car inside and out
$5000 also represents approx 100-115 man hours
Do you think it would take one guy three weeks to respray your car?
Get another quote

I would say 2,000-3,000 would be the ballpark.
I just had my RX-7 resprayed and it cost $1,600 and it took 40 hours.

Biscuit

That's pretty much exactly what I was thinking.

I love those RX-7's like you have. My favorite body style of any of the japanese cars from the 90's (and I'm a HUGE Z fan). Beautiful cars. And the rotary is so smoooooth. Too bad the apex seals go out every 50k miles though. Anyways, back on topic.

boohooramblers

+1

I had some panels resprayed on my C32 by a reputable shop way up Buford Hwy (don't laugh - it's not an oxymoron!). It looked absolutely great - like new. FWIW, they were recommended to me by Mercedes Benz of Buckhead.

Along the lines of what moosejaw alluded to - it would cost less than $3,000 to do the whole car. I initially looked into having the entire car resprayed and they quoted me something close to the above.

I'll see if I can dig up the receipt I had from the work I had done and send you the business name and phone number.

thtguy

Need to get my wife's SLK32 resprayed. It has the clearcoat peel that is very common with 02-03 SLK's even though MB won't take the blame on it. but it also has rock chips along the front leading edges from being in VA, and now that we live on the Gulf Coast with Gulf in our back yard, all those little dings have turned a nice reddish brown. MB of Tampa Quoted me $2800 to sand down all the clear, respray the front end, and then re-clear the entire car.

Biscuit

Thanks everybody for the responses. That's pretty much what I was hoping to hear. If I end up doing it I'll post back on what I paid.

FrankW

$350-400 for a bumper repaint. not sure about the doors, but you get the idea. I usually get hooked up cheaper for paint as well since I have a pretty good relationship with the body shop I always use.

however SoCal is known to have the cheapest price you can find on everything in US.

loudandheard

You're not kidding, even the dealer has half off price as compared to what we have in Texas, lol.

My dad restores classics and puts a lot of work in to those cars. Every thing from welding new panels, fixing rust, body work, paint, and polishing to make every thing look like glass. He charges on average around 6-10k. Take in mind that's with body work, all the way down to the metal, and on old cars. I would imagine that you should be paying any where from 2k-4k depending on body work, stripping the car down to metal, and if they have to respray the door jams, trunk, and under hood area. If all your are doing is having the car resprayed and little to no body work, I would think around 2.5k should be reasonable.

I purchased a quart of brilliant silver at the paint shop my dad uses and it only came out to be $115, but it was regular ppg paint. I would imagine that it would probably take about a gallon to paint your car and then I'm not too sure how much clear would be needed or price, but I'll see what my dad says.

TemjinX2

yeah around oem quality is going to be around $3-5k. Maaco style is going to probably be around $1200-1600. If you do your own sanding and preping, it'll be dirt cheap just to have a shop to spray it for you. Most of the money comes from the prep work.

TEXANRED

Hey guys, new to the forum here. I was searching out some Houston area bodyshop info when I stumbled onto this page and I just had to chime in.

Forgive me and by all means I do not intend to ruffle any feathers. I am an estimator for a high end shop here in Houston and thought I would scoot over for a second to interject.

For starters I would like to say that I have never written an estimate for a complete paint for under $7k. Read on and you will find out why.

There are a few unknown factors in the first posters statements that require a tad bit more information before one should pass judgement.

There are many different variables, conditions, and factors, that account for the makeup of any one estimate. In this case:

What type of vehicle? Is the vehicle a ML, CL, GL, S Class, SLK, etc? For starters the area of the panel being painted plays a major factor. The hood being painted on a SLK will cost more to refinish then that of a MLK. More area = more paint supplies = more prep time = longer to refinish = costly to complete.

Also when you say scratches what do you mean? Surface scratches? Deep scratches? Gouges? Are there dents in any of the panels? Door dings, minor blemish's on body lines, distorted panels, or any work that requires more than just sanding and feather prime and block?

If more than just a simple sanding is required now we are talking about actual body work that requires bumping and roughing of the metal. Body filler added to restore the original body lines and contour of the panel. Feather prime and block to bring the panel back to a "like new undamaged panel." Without doing any of those steps a job that just has paint thrown on it with no body work done will look 10 times worse then it did before. The reason is if the scratches, dents, etc are not repaired the fresh paint will accent the damaged area and stick out like a sore thumb.

The next question is what got R&I'd? Or removed and installed. And again the type of vehicle plays a factor. On the doors to avoid overspray the weatherstrips, surround strips, door seals, fender to door seal, and bottom seal must be replaced. These items are double sided taped and any attempt to retape them will have you coming back demanding we pay for new weatherstrips cus they just fell off. Weatherstrips for these vehicles are not cheap, they range from $50 to a $175 per molding. So to start per door you are looking at a potential of $300 plus tax per door. Belt moldings are another factor. Majority of the time if you take chrome belt molding off they bend. That's another $100 to $200 a door. Does the vehicle have a chrome drip strip that goes around the 1/4 glass, borders both upper window uniside opening and ends at the windshield? If so, and they bend or break, that's another $200 per side.

So right there, all four doors we are looking at a potential $2400 in moldings not including tax and the labor to R&I.

How are your body side moldings? Do they have chrome? 99% of Mercedes moldings do not come with the chrome strips separate and you can't paint the molding with the chrome strip or you will get a paint line. Average $175 per door plus refinish labor, plus paint supplies, plus labor to R&I plus tax.

So now I am at three grand and all I have done is replace the moldings and weatherstrips.

Mercedes also (BMW, Jag, landrover for that matter) have a smoother slicker surface finish and Wet sand and buff is very necessary in order for us to complete your vehicle and bring a smile to your face. Not only do we have to apply extra coats of clear (which costs more in paint materials) but additional time to complete the panel. Estimating software is based on average vehicles and surface area. It does not account for labor that goes above and beyond the labor time given. That is why in the estimating software there is a thing called P-pages (or procedure pages) These are the guide lines on estimating and the rules to estimating. After the definitions there is a list that is divided in two categories: Included and Not included. Wet sand and buff is not included because as per the definition the opening line states "A varying amount of wet sand and buff may or may not be needed and should be determined by an on the spot evaluation." This is because it is recognized that no two cars are the same and additional work may be needed.

So if this is an extensive job and most of the car is getting painted I will guess 50 hours of body labor @ $44 = $2200 35 hours of refinish labor @ $44 = $1540. Paint supplies are multiplied by $30 @ the same hours as refinish time so that = $1050 + supplies get taxed that is another $86.25. plus your corrosion protection, flex, car cover, hazmat, add $20 for that. So your grand total will now = $3846.25. This does not include any parts, moldings, decals, 3rd brake lights, etc.

Sure, I could write you a $2000 estimate. Why not right? But in about 3 days expect phone call from me and I am saying "Well Mr. Customer there is going to be an additional $3000.00 needed to repair your car correctly." And after you have yelled at me, screamed, cussed at me, hung up the phone on me, showed up to the shop and yelled at me in person and told me without a doubt that I will repair your car correctly for the original price and I will pay for any of the overages from the original estimate, I will calmly look at you and explain to you that unless you pay the additional $3000 I will repair the vehicle as per the original estimate, you will pay your $2000 for the repairs, and you will be very unhappy with the out come of a vehicle not repaired correctly. And after you tell me to just bring the car around I will inform you that it is too late and work has started and the vehicle has already been torn down.

So which is better? Me to be honest up front or wait till you have been cornered and don't have a choice?

We are paid 100% commission. We know taking an hour to write a $5000 customer pay estimate is not time well spent. We know you are not going to buy it, and we know you will complain about it. But you have option A and option B in this case.

moosejaw

I would like to point out that a lot of ppl dont have $7K to drop on painting a car.
You must really love your car to drop that much cheddar.

Yes there a lot of factors in painting a car, however the OP asked how much should it cost to re-paint his car. The number s i rattled off are in fact what the average cost is for the C Class.

The average person is not going to notice all the details that you point out.
Your right in the assumption that to do a car right, it would cost that much and entail that much labor, however i would forsee a lot of out of work body shop guys roaming the off ramps if body shops were charging $7K a pop to paint cars

TEXANRED

Oh I hear ya. I don't have the $7K either and completely understand. Don't get me wrong, I am by no means saying $7K is just the way it is and you should deal with it. I was just explaining the situation that myself or other estimators who work for similar shops are put in.

Believe it or not the battle between us (Body shops) and the insurance companies play a role in writing customer pay estimates.

Without getting too deep into the discussion there are two factors, one being anti-trust laws. In a nut shell I (the business) can not sell my product (in this case collision repair) to you (the consumer) for one price (discounted or up-charged) and turn around and sell that same product at a different rate to another party. So I go to the insurance company and expect them to pay for all of the non included items per the P-Pages then I have to apply those to the customer pay estimates as well.

But what I have failed to understand is how the insurance companies can come out to my shop, write their estimate and pay us a "Fair market rate" (How much per hour is charged, for example ALL insurance companies in Houston only pay $40 an hour for Body or Paint. which is neither fair or market b/c our door rate is higher) And actually they (and when I say they I mean you the consumer) are in violation of anti-trust, being that the insurance company is only part of the claims process as the third party. I as the body shop go into a contract with you the consumer. That make me party of the first and you party of the second. You have a contract with the insurance company to pay for damages to vehicle which makes them by definition the third party( (Business / Insurance) Insurance providing protection against liability caused by accidental injury or death of other persons or damage to their property.) In addition to the supplier not being able to charge different the consumer is not allowed to buy at different rates either. And just because you hired out someone to handle the financial portion does not make you any less guilty.

Which brings us to the second factor of the insurance company sending in people for estimates and spot check the shops for rates, P-Page items, etc. They call it research to that helps them determine local market area. I call it hog wash.

But thats an entirely different thread on how the insurance company comes out here and tells us how we should fix a car and what we need and don't need to put your car back to pre-loss condition. I'm sorry, but aren't I the one who goes to school specifically for these types of vehicles? The owner here just spent $10K for two people to fly out to train and learn about the new model year vehicles. How they are constructed, the do's and the dont's when repairing your car to the manufacturers specifications certifications. (Like I can't fix an aluminum rail the same way I repair a steel rail) I don't see the insurance company writing us a ten thousand dollar check to compensate us. Sorry

So anyway every shop does things a little differently, its all about consistency in what we do and ask for. We treat every car the same, whether its a Ford or a Lambo, its our quality of work and our reputation that is on the line for every single repair.

Also, not to be a snob about it but, having a nice car is a privilege, not a right. The 1986 Yugo will get you to where you want to go just the same as an S500. Maybe slower, more uncomfortable, and a lot more laughs, but it will get you there.