Floobydust

Unfortunately a rouge garbage can put some serious scratches all the way down the the left down the left side of my Cabrio during a high wind day we had recently. The whole side is going to need re-painting. Since that's covered by insurance, I thought I'd check into a whole re-spray to clean up of all the little chips scratches elsewhere. Plus, it just bothers me to have one such large section re-done, but not the whole car. Even with a perfect match, the difference in surface condition will be visible.

So I started asking a few local body shops that do whole-car work and was shocked by the numbers they were throwing out, especially since there is really no body work to speak of - just prep and paint. Can I get feedback on what others have paid for this or think this should cost?

Thanks in advance,

- FD

bimmerc90

It usually is not cheap. Anywhere from 2000 and higher!

RHW

Ya'll probaby have better buddies or something, but here would be my guess if I needed a paintjob:

Whole car? Done right for 10+ year keeper? $4500

Darned good job? $3500

Great job for a $4000 car? $2000

The rag top eliminates 20% of paint work.

POS

$2500 for okay job.
$4000 for good job.
$6000+ for great job.

AMGTestDriverNJ

I'm in a similar situation w/ my 500E. It was slightly scraped over the rear fender by some a** in a truck w/ one of those wide rear platforms rounding the corner where I had it parked the 2nd day I had it.

I collected insurance already but like you, didn't feel comfortable painting just part of the car. I asked a few shops I trust (don't want to play games on a respray for this car as I'm sure you don't for yours) and I got quotes from $4500 low to $6500 high. I'm leaning towards the high. That's my 2 cents. Is your cabrio two toned or one color?

WDB124066

USD$6,000 for a top quality Glasurit job at an Authorised MB Shop doing top end work - in New Zealand that is. Drive in, drive out & including 15% sales tax.

When I get my car back I'll check those springs........

RHW

AMGTestdriver, wow, hate to hear that - 2nd day, what a buzzkill.

On the 500, I'd consider an excellent / close match on a fender to keep rest of car in original MB paint, if the rest of car were excellent.

semis1

I paid just under $2,000 for a good paint job on my 1991 300CE. Entire car including spoiler kit (bumpers, bumper strips, a few dents repaired, cladding etc.)
It is not a top job, but looks good. For a convertible or 500, I would pay 4-5,000 for one no question.

RBYCC

About the same in the USA for the latest water based Glasurit system at a certified Mercedes collision center...
Material is almost half of that amount.....

Shoomakan

Unfortunately, here in Beirut a normal "expensive" job isn't over 1200$, assuming there's no rust and/or body panel damage.

The bad thing is, they paint the whole car while everything is still in it, and they don't even remove the bumpers and stuff and paint them individually.

When my W124 was getting repainted, the guy thought I was weird that I asked for the bumpers to be taken apart and sprayed properly inside out. As well as the hood and trunk.

AND the garages are open air, so there's a higher chance of contaminants mixing with the paint.

RHW

This is why I expect a Cab would be on the low side of these prices, with 15-20% less surface area.

Shoo: My first go-round with painting lowers, they shot the pieces right on my car. I've since removed the panels and cleaned/reshot the whole job after seeing it done right on my wagon. Done right, once is always cheaper even if it does not seem that way at time of spend.

turbocad6

I own a bodyshop in ny & can def say that in many cases you get what you pay for... a whole car can be painted with under $500 in materials & the same job can be done with more than 3 times that in materials too. then there is the difference between taping up the trim or removing & disassembling everything... you can get a car ready for paint in a day with one man or have 2 guys working on it for a week to get it ready... then there's the wet sanding & polishing to perfection which can add another day or more to the labor on top of everything else...

in the end you can not get a real quality job for just 2 or even 3k $, a quality job in a quality shop costs the shop more than that just to do it... expect at least $4,500 & up... the fact that it is a cabrio does not change things all that much honestly. a roof doesn't require all that much attention & the differences in materials used is negligible. add in the complications of working around the top for paint & it's almost a wash so don't think that because your roof is canvas that's going to save you so much $$$, maybe a few hundred less if that...

Floobydust

Thank you everyone for your posts. The numbers I have been getting have ranged from $5K (ICI paint) to $8K (Dupont paint) and that's if I take off all the cladding, trim, lights, etc. I'm not looking for a Concours level paint job - just a good quality one.

I'm a little perplexed because if you look at the math, it doesn't compute. Let's say it takes three man-days of prep, a day to paint, and two man-days of finishing, plus $1K in materials. Remember, I would be delivering the car without any parts to remove and there is no significant body work (a couple of door dings at most). At $50/hour shop rate, that gets you to $3400.

Interestingly, I got an estimate to do the whole left side (the garbage can) plus strip and repaint the hood (stone chips) and that was $1800 without me having to R&R the trim pieces. So 50% of the car is $1800, full service, but the whole car is $5K, DIY? I'm not sure what's up with that.

turbocad6 - you are right about the convertible not saving you anything. One thing I did learn is that what you save in paint and prep is eaten up in bagging the canvas top and in dealing with the painted trim pieces (which have to be painted separately) at the boot interface.

WDB124066

If you do get it done it might pay to look at the new ultra hard clear coat MB are using, stops those annoying spider web scratches......

RHW

Appreciate the feedback here both TurboCad and Floobydust,
my theory seemed so useful.

Is the shop quoting $50 an hour? That likely includes the boy who shines tires as $50 an hour won't pay the bills for a shop owner. I'd expect $75-$100 at least from a Benz level shop. TurboCad input would be useful.

If you find a body shop that is hungry, prices come down but, you risk finding out why they are hungry.

RBYCC

FD

You might be underestimating material....
I just paid $2300.00 for the material required to do the latest water based Glasurit system that MB is currently using on the production line.
Decided to go with the water based as the painter feels it flows much better giving a smooth surface that requires less color sanding.
If you're in a Metro are, your shop rate would be about double and 40 manhours would be $4K + $2K material would result in $6K +...

Ed A.

eyebuzz

Here in NY it's $50-$55/hour because insurance companies won't pay more than that. I just recently ask this question to a shop because the hourly rate seemed low. They must make it up other ways. I think the key is to find a trustworthy shop - I'm happy to pay $6,000 (well not really) if I get $6,000 worth of work.

chlippo

can you provide more info about this water based system? (some links for the products would be nice)

RBYCC

http://cvmedia.net/BASF/introducing.htm

https://www.basfrefinish.com/cgi-bin...l2Menu=90-Line Waterborne&lvl3Menu=Downloads&parentName=90-Line Waterborne

turbocad6

the only reason for waterborne is for lower VOC emissions, that's it. waterborne is not better or worse just because it's waterborne... it actually is only the color portion anyway, and the clear coat that goes over it is NOT waterborne, so the waterborne portion of the paint job is sealed under a conventional urethane clear coat, just like any "solventborne" color would be...

waterborne is ALL about emissions and nothing about performance or higher quality... as a mater of fact it is almost the opposite as it has taken a lot of years & developments just to get waterbornes to perform as good as conventional solvent based materials. in the end to the consumer there is no difference & no benefit, the only benefit is that waterborne is more "green" and ecologically friendly...

it is not better as far as paint performance goes at all & because it is new & can be problematic at first for shops that are used to solvent based material I would NOT push a shop to use waterborne if there not used to working with it already... the drying & flash off is different & can cause issues for those not experienced with it... solvent based paints are every bit as good as they were before...

the_widebody

lol

Floobydust

The figures I quoted in my calculations were the posted hourly rates ($50 - $60) for paint/prep work. Interestingly, shops have a multi-tiered hourly rate, with more technically skilled tasks (such as straightening, panel R&R, etc.) costing more.

I think you are right and that the posted rates are determined by what insurers will pay. And given that, I think the problem I'm having is that the shops are not hungry enough (they quoted 4 - 6 weeks just to get the car in for a re-paint). I think they prefer jobs that involve a lot of the higher rate skills, ones which my car would not need, to make more money per job. This makes the "effective" hourly rate is much higher than the posted rate and it is this "effective" rate represents the opportunity cost for the shop so it gets figured into the cost of a re-paint, whether it's posted or not.

As for the cost of materials, about $1K is what they said for ICI or Dupont. I asked about higher end finishes like Glasurit and only one shop said they use it. They said materials would be about $2K for it which seems about right per posts here. They all said that waterborne finishes offer no real user benefit over solvent based systems and that the inexpensive waterborne systems do not perform as well as the equivalently priced solvent systems.

I may look for shops further away from Boston metro or shipping the car to my brother's place in Arizona. He has had some phenomenal work done there for fairly low dollars. Or I may just go with go with the repair and live with it.

Thanks again everyone,

- FD

WDB124066

Your car has Glasurit from factory.