[Secret Agent Man]

Repainting a car is one of the few remaining relatively easy things to do yourself.

[CarmichaelPatriot]

There are two reasons;

Insurance - auto body repair facilities charge insurance for every little item such as paint, cleaning supplies, tape, sandpaper, and so on. They don’t want the hassle of dealing with individuals who would question all the nickel and dime charges.

Product cost - regulations and technical advances have made auto paint extremely expensive. I just bought enough paint to paint new front and rear bumpers for my car. It was almost $200, not including clear coat. That was for 1 qt each white primer and white base coat paint and enough catalyst and primer to spray them. Some colors are much more because of the tinting costs. Reds are around $400 per gallon, without hardener or reducer.

The up side is that today’s paint is far superior to what was put on cars 10 or 15 years ago, if applied correctly.

[JennysCool]

You’re absolutely right that we’re talking “busybodies” ... Bureaucrats ... But it goes so much further. Government at all levels has become a massive “make work” project. If we didn’t have these stalwart “protectors” of our environment and ourselves receiving a government paycheck, they would probably be completely unemployable. I think that’s ingrained and true under a Democrat or Republican Administration. Can you IMAGINE the unemployment rate if these “protectors” at all levels from local to federal were to lose their jobs?

[Paid_Russian_Troll]

You guys are lucky. For $1,200 you could probably paint just a couple body parts in many places of the world.

[Robert DeLong]

A DIY Guide to Painting Your Car

[Reaganez]

In California, 1 Day Paint and Body auto paint jobs start at $449. This is one of several chain Auto paint places.

http://1-daypaint.com/

Then again there are people that spend $30k or more on a custom paint job for a high end car.

If we went back to 1988 environmental regulations the cost would probably start at $299. With some deeper blacks and some brighter classic finishes circa the 1950’s.

[Old Retired Army Guy]

“I’ll paint any car,anytime for $29.95.” Earl Scheib, Los Angeles TV Commercial 1950’s and 60”s.

[Robert DeLong]

I was quoted $2,500 to re-spray the Cadillac XLR I used to have, or double that for a color change, and that is in Louisiana. So those prices that you are quoting, even the $1,200 price quote, are not that bad. To do it right takes a lot of man hours, just for the prepping phase, which includes sanding, masking off areas to protect against over-spray, and wipe down of car to remove dust and other contaminants. Then there are the costs associated with the primer, the paint, and the clear coat, as well as various items such as rags, chemicals to clean of dust residues etc. On top of that a shop has overhead costs, of which some are complying with EPA regulations. So 600 to 1,200 sound like a bargain. Super quality & innovative paint jobs can run into the 10's of thousands of dollars.

Earl Scheib, which I am surprised to see are actually still in business, used to paint your car for about 99.99 if I remember correctly. That was years ago though, but I'll bet they are still the cheapest auto sprayers. You might want to check them out to see if one is close enough for you and see what they charge.

[RayChuang88]

Real quality clear coat paint jobs on automobiles are quite expensive if you want one that lasts a long time, alas.

[babygene]

I am involved in restoring a 70 VW Beetle and last week after having the 5 old tires removed and discarded ($28), having them sandblasted($75) I went to the auto paint store to buy primer. They had it in spray cans as well as bulk. Two cans of primer was going to be a little over $90. That’s just for 5 rims. I also checked into the price for the paint for the body of the bug while I was there. They wanted $250 to more than $500 per gallon. A gallon would be enough for the VW, but a full size car would be closer to two gallons.

I ended up using rustolium auto primer for $10, but an auto paint shop is not going to do that on the body of your car.

Sooo, it doesn’t surprise me that it’s so expensive to get a car painted.

[mcmuffin]

Have you considered Vehicle Wrapping?

[Born to Conserve]

A light tap from a car’s side mirror broke a nickel sized hole in my truck’s tail light. Factory tail light list was well over $200. After market and used was still over $100. I sold the damage tail light for $50!

I’m surprised there aren’t “junk yards” buying brand new cars and parting them out. The parts must be worth ten times the price of a new car.

[JimRed]

Whatever happened to “Any Car, Any Color, $29.95”?

I guess you have to be old enough to remember that.

[bajabaja]

Look at the DYC or “dip your car” videos on youtube for another option. Save dollars and time and have a different look.

[moovova]

Changing colors doubles the cost. You're talking...inside door wells, maybe the wheel wells, under the gas nozzle flap, under the hood and trunk lid. At least you don't have to prep and spray those old headbanger dashboards anymore...

[Vaduz]

The mechanic I got my cars from says he may know someone who can paint my car for $650.
R. Brush is well known in Santa Rosa.

[Yardstick]

$1200 strikes me as low, especially if there’s a color change involved. Would probably be a quicky job with corners cut on the prep. I’d probably either spend more and get a better job done or just drive the car as-is.

[Lurker]

“I was all set to reject that as too far from Marin County and far too expensive. “

A half hour drive is too far? Besides any reason is a good reason to get out of Marin County.

[minnesota_bound]

1 Day paint did my 1992 Honda Accord for about $800 around 2004. The paint outlasted the car as I sold it in 2014.

My 2003 Honda Accord paint looks good but I can see a paint job in it’s future. I checked around and the $1,200 was the price I kept seeing.