how much does it cost to repaint your car?

__BIG__RICH__ · Post by **__BIG__RICH__** » Wed Apr 25, 2012 10:59 am

was wondering how much it would cost to fully repaint a subaru impreza? and is it worth it?

Davidov · Post by **Davidov** » Wed Apr 25, 2012 11:03 am

A LOT of money. My outback was repainted (and i think had a bit of panel work done) before i bought it that that cost roughly 6 grand.

Brumby Kid · Post by **Brumby Kid** » Wed Apr 25, 2012 11:34 am

Depends on the quality of the finish, orange peel vs no orange peel.
Then what kind of paint etc.
The main cost is just the labour.
Materials; paint, sandpaper, tape etc.
Would only be a couple of hundred.

Cheers Cam

taza · Post by **taza** » Wed Apr 25, 2012 12:28 pm

Seriously don't even bother thinking of going down this route. Usually if you change the colour too the rest of the car looks average as all the inside body work, engine bay, insides of doors, etc... are still the original colour.

Davidov · Post by **Davidov** » Wed Apr 25, 2012 1:17 pm

I would say a new paint job is worth it depending on the price your willing to pay. If your planning on keeping the car for a long time it could be.

It also depends on how bad the current paintwork is.

Silverbullet · Post by **Silverbullet** » Wed Apr 25, 2012 3:02 pm

Davidov wrote:A LOT of money. My outback was repainted (and i think had a bit of panel work done) before i bought it that that cost roughly 6 grand.

This would be the cost if you dropped off the car completely un-prepped and had them do all the work right?

I'd like to know what the cost would be if you did all the prep yourself i.e remove all the trim, lights, other bits and pieces and sanded it down yourself. All they would have to do is give it a clean, maybe a final rubdown and paint it. This is assuming the bodywork doesn't need any filling etc.

thunder039 · Post by **thunder039** » Wed Apr 25, 2012 3:40 pm

^ if a different color and engine bay etc was done it would still be a couple of grand. BUT a repray of the same color on the outside only should set you back any more then 800-1000 i would say, this will have it looking like new again

Battlewagon · Post by **Battlewagon** » Wed Apr 25, 2012 5:38 pm

How long is a piece of string?
If it's a plain jane white, and you do all the prepwork yourself, it'll be quite cheap.
On the other hand, if it's blue and you like red mica metallic and you want to just hand over the car and pick it up when it's done, bring your money with you.

Silverbullet · Post by **Silverbullet** » Wed Apr 25, 2012 5:52 pm

Brumby Kid I can't reply to your PM since your inbox is full but I was saying my cars paint job is way down the list somewhere, at least 4-5 months away once I've stripped the car down and saved the dollars. Thanks for the offer anyway

Hmm metallic blue is expensive? but if I do the prep myself it might even itself out

I'll stop hijacking Big Rich's thread now

sven '2' · Post by **sven '2'** » Wed Apr 25, 2012 6:43 pm

Battlewagon wrote:How long is a piece of string?

Indeed.

As an example, my RS respray 6 years ago, by a quality tradesman, with me doing the monkey work was $4.75K

No rust or sig dents.

Should also mention I have spent a bit of time in the crash repair and ins industries.

Is so much more than rubbing back and spraying new top coat.

Only reason I did it was (1) loved the car, and (2) the purchase price allowed for the poor paint work.

As for the original Q, no is not worth respraying an Imprezza unless it is special to you.

If I had a lower value car that I was thinking about repainting, I would do it in the backyard, learning as I went. Have seen some pretty good jobs over the years.

87rxturbo · Post by **87rxturbo** » Wed Apr 25, 2012 7:11 pm

Sometimes its cheaper to find another car in the color you prefer,or 1 that has already had the work done on it. I had an R100 done back in the early 90's,the first time by a backyarder that ruined it,painted it in a different color to the door jams underbody etc,and came out all chalky using a low powered compressor,then next by a professional who did it at mates rates and that was around the $800 to $1000 in acrylic for the outside only in body matching color.It turned out pretty good,much better than i could have achieved myself even with the right equiptment.

87rxturbo · Post by **87rxturbo** » Wed Apr 25, 2012 7:21 pm

You can always have a go at it yourself,but like anything experience and practice helps as does having the correct tools to do the job. Maybe get a few quotes,find the current going rate then see if you can find someone on 1 of the forums that does spray jobs on the side.Even try another forum,just because they don't drive a Subaru doesn't mean they can't spray...

87rxturbo · Post by **87rxturbo** » Wed Apr 25, 2012 7:25 pm

Last crash repairer i talked to locally quoted me around $6000 and i nearly fell over and if i wanted a color change,under bonnet,inner boot etc ,several thousand more,bear in mind to do it correctly you need to disassemble virtually the whole car.

Brumby Kid · Post by **Brumby Kid** » Wed Apr 25, 2012 7:45 pm

I would do it for you,
Shame your not in SA.
But if anyone in SA does want a spray job, done properly to their standards, cheap.
I'm here, even if it is just one panel.

Cheers Cam

87rxturbo · Post by **87rxturbo** » Wed Apr 25, 2012 7:49 pm

Sweet,now i know who to contact if i ever decide to redo the RX!

sven '2' · Post by **sven '2'** » Wed Apr 25, 2012 8:34 pm

87rxturbo wrote:Sometimes its cheaper to find another car in the color you prefer,or 1 that has already had the work done on it. I had an R100 done back in the early 90's,the first time by a backyarder that ruined it,painted it in a different color to the door jams underbody etc,and came out all chalky using a low powered compressor,then next by a professional who did it at mates rates and that was around the $800 to $1000 in acrylic for the outside only in body matching color.It turned out pretty good,much better than i could have achieved myself even with the right equiptment.

You had me at R100

Photos please!

Brumby Kid · Post by **Brumby Kid** » Wed Apr 25, 2012 8:41 pm

87rxturbo wrote:Sweet,now i know who to contact if i ever decide to redo the RX!

Thanks, please do.

olddog642 · Post by **olddog642** » Wed Apr 25, 2012 8:45 pm

sven '2' wrote:You had me at R100

Photos please!

I thought it was a BMW motorbike that was been discussed but then I saw door jam ???

sven '2' · Post by **sven '2'** » Wed Apr 25, 2012 8:47 pm

olddog642 wrote:I thought it was a BMW motorbike that was been discussed but then I saw door jam ???

Hmmm...another love Beamer bikes...

The R100 Mazda equilivent of a 360...but 'just a bit quicker'

steptoe · Post by **steptoe** » Thu Apr 26, 2012 8:18 am

Ohh, where is my big pic of my Nuclear Yellow Mazda 1300 2 door wagon amongst the yellow weeds ?? A relevant pic right now with the R100 above and I painted it with a CIG sprayer I got from BigW and cheap enamel trailer paint.

I actually used same CIG Easy beaver sprayer to apply primer to my first acrylic paint job 19 years ago, finished off the top colour with a cheapy spray gun with compressed air and inline moisture filter - something the prick painters should have used on previous repair jobs.Their paint jobs did not last long at all - still got my work to prove it has lasted 19 years. Cost me $500 back then to do myself - whole car, primer and top coats etc and three weeks of my time !

Where is revmax Carl ??