Worth respraying car?

djwolf

I've owned my sportscar for about a year now and I've noticed that it's had some new paint at some point in the past. It has slightly different shades of metallic blue on it which shows up in certain lights. It's a shame as the rest of the car is pretty much spot on. It's mechanically good and paintwork is all straight. I was considering getting a full respray done but the quotes were up around £1.5-2k which is very expensive and would take a long time to save up. Instead I'm going to get the whole of both sides, mirrors and boot resprayed which should match things up much better than it is now. The quote was £650 which seems reasonable for this work. Does that seem like a decent price? Would you say it will be worthwhile?

I know cars depreciate but this is a fairly rare model and holds it's price pretty well. It's 8 yrs old but still worth about £8.5k. My thinking is not only will I be happier with the looks while I have it but it will also be easier to sell on with matching paintwork.

karenx

What kind of car is it?
I would personally go for a full respray, as even though you say some panels are different shades this could be due to the fact they have been replaced and the color didnt match up 100%. Or could just be fading paint on some panels. How can you guarantee that by only spraying certain panels it will all match up again ok? At least with a full respray you can be certain it will all match and you should hopefully get a guarantee with the respray also if its a reputable garage

djwolf

Well, myself and the paint sprayer had a good look round it and found out that all of the car has been resprayed at some point except the passenger door, rear quarter, mirrors and boot which are original. Hence, respraying both sides, mirrors and boot should match things up. It's possible that the bonnet and bumpers may not match up exactly 100% but due to the different angles it won't really show. There is no roof on the car to worry about. I agree a full respray is the best option but it's too expensive. If I can haggle the quotes down further I may consider it.

anewman

Do you have a garage and some spare time? A compressor and the paint etc will come to much less than £1.5k. Would take a beginner a bit of practice though.

tomstickland

I'd never advise doing your own paint job, especially metallic.

£650 is pretty cheap. It's just a matter of what you want and how much you are prepared to pay really. You could just leave it alone and save £650.

Pew_Pew_Pew_Lasers!

Sell the car and buy something you're happier with. You'll never get a proper job for £650, ever.

motorguy

anewman wrote: »

Do you have a garage and some spare time? A compressor and the paint etc will come to much less than £1.5k. Would take a beginner a bit of practice though.

No way!!!

A complete novice with no experience spraying their own car with metallic paint???? :eek:

motorguy

O/P

Its up to you.

If you're confident that £650 will allow you not to notice the paintwork changes, then go for it, but i suspect you'll then 'see' those differences in the paint.

Hard one. Is it really that noticeable as is? How come you didnt notice it before you bought it?

pendulum

1) How can you have 9.5k of debt and drive a sports car?
2) How can you be thinking of spending thousands on a pointless respray for an 8 year old car?

Just accept that an 8 year old car will not be perfect and live with it! You didn't notice the problem for a year so it can't be that bad can it.

Inactive

pgilc1 wrote: »

O/P



Hard one. Is it really that noticeable as is? How come you didnt notice it before you bought it?

Good question, I can spot a mismatch a mile off, it puts me off of a car straight away.

atrixblue.-MFR-.

pendulum wrote: »

1) How can you have 9.5k of debt and drive a sports car?
2) How can you be thinking of spending thousands on a pointless respray for an 8 year old car?

Just accept that an 8 year old car will not be perfect and live with it! You didn't notice the problem for a year so it can't be that bad can it.

you have a point but!

this is a rare sports car so is an investment of sorts.

if he came to sell it and the person buying noticed different panel colours he wont get what its worth. plus the OP doesnt like the fact it got uneven paint work.

we do not know about his debt nor do we want to know his finances for all we/you know that he may have been saving the penies for this work to be done. this is motoring and transport not debt advice, lets advise on the question in hand.

£650 i presume is to paint ontop of the existing paint,scotch clothed (take the laquer off the top),painted on top of base coat,laquered,final stage rub down,polished. £1.5-£2k would be rubbed down to bare metal,filled,primered,based,laquered,final stage rub down,polished.

i would recomend asking what the £650 would entail a poor job would be noticable (ripples,orange peel,overspray,blemishes,blow marks).

you could also ask your local main dealer some dealers have onsite body repairers, or have a contract with a repairer, try and source as many reputable repairers and quotes.