zookie

I have just short of a million scratches, etc in my paint. Yes, I counted them all.

I'm thinking about getting the car repainted.

Anyone have experience getting this done? What should I expect it to cost?

Anyone know where to get this done in the Cincinnati area?

PeterUbers

iTrader: (1)

OMG .. Are you sure you can't at least first try a buff and wax .. a good place will do this for around $500-750 for the whole car

erick3

i agree with peter...
a freaking new paint job costs anywhere from 8-10k!

218TL

Heheh i Know its a mistake but it's funny

csmeance

Post some pictures of how it looks, a good detail job can completely change a car's appearance.

When you ask cost, are you asking for a color change? A perfect job, as good or better than the factory paint? Sub-Par job?

A full, top notch paint job can cost about 7-10K. It should be a very good quality job, one in which there are zero paint dips, the edges and lines on the car are still nice and sharp and the paint used is as hard or harder than the factory stuff.

Changing the color can be a bit more expensive since it requires the removal of many different items to have the color completely changed. For example, the door jambs will need to be painted, under the hood, the motor bay, under and around doors, etc. This can cost nearly 15K for a very good job.

A sub-par job should cost you about 3-5K, it will have a few paint runs and drips at the bottom of the door-skins, the paint may be very soft and scratch easily than before. The edges may be less pronouced on the accent lines and there might be a few bubbles and dust bits in the paint. Tape lines will most likely be present.

218TL

wellllll NVM

zookie

Thanks for the responses. I can look into a good detail job. Just didn't think that would be sufficient. But I'm not sure either. Here are some pictures. Close your eyes and hold your breath...

Here is what everyone can see from a distance. I wiped the hood just after this, but all those specs are mostly from highway driving.



Next up is a nice shot after I wiped the affected area. The large what areas were there when I bought the car used. Acura tells me the person who owned it before me must have let bird crap sit on the car for a long time and it is now embedded in the paint. True?


More bird stuff and one chip that is somewhat deep. I do have touch up paint I could put on this, but then the touch up paint looks poor as well.


Last, this picture is just a small part of the spoiler, but it runs much of the edge of the entire thing. They said that something flipped up off the road and it hit the spoiler scratching much of the edge. They used touch up paint on all affected areas, but you can see how it looks. Just be nice to get it fixed while I'm at all this other stuff. It isn't as noticeable as the front and hood.


And in general, which you can see on the hood, there are a lot of paint chips from highway driving. These can be seen on the hood and especially on the front bumper. I didn't take a picture, but from looking at the hood, you can only imagine.

What do you think? Detail shop, paint, any other options? I have the Zaino system I just bought but the current state is beyond that. It needs some type of professional help.

Majofo

effin hate this cheap ass paint.. I have a white '95 Camry back home that is exposed everyday to grueling heat & UV / humidity / sea spray with paint that still looks new.

PeterUbers

iTrader: (1)

Honestly -- i agree that those dose bird crap issues will not get resolved and the chips will remain chips -- but i don't think it's worth you spending thousands of dollars to get your paint brand new.

- how long do you plan on keeping this car?
- do you have 5k-7k sitting around that you'd be willing to use to repaint the car?

I would recommend getting it pro-detailed first -- then wait a few months and think it over...

spc425

Might be cheaper getting a used hood from a salvage yard or from someone who replaced their stock with a carbon fiber one.

csmeance

that's quite a lot of chips! You will probably need to repaint the hood and bumper, no need for the fenders. Black paint is easy to match so blending won't be needed. It should be about 1K for the hood and bumper to be refinished and repainted. Also afterwards, invest in a clear- bra, it'll help this from happening again. As for the spoiler, it can be replaced with an ebay one or another acura one, painting it isn't worth the effort.

zookie

Well, PeterUbers, we are thinking the same thing.

I actually argued with the guy at Acura for a minute because I was in disbelief that bird crap could do that. Never even heard of that before. But, it's true. And it's absurd.

No, I am not really interested in dropping 5-7k just for a paint job. That seems excessive for the return. I had planned on keeping the car for a few more years. Three at most.

Something has to give before then though. Either I need to get rid of the car, and then why would I buy another to repeat the same (minus the bird crap that would never happen on my watch)? Or I need to try to somehow fix what I have. Problem is that I really like this car. More than any other I've owned.

I thought about maybe trying to have just the hood and possibly front panels painted as they are definitely the worst. But, I can only assume that the paint is faded well beyond trying to match by just painting certain panels.

I can do the pro-detailing and I was about to purchase some RonJon Inspyres tomorrow, but that seems like something I should put on hold until I get this figured out and the detailing sounds like it could be a waste if it doesn't get rid of the core problems.

Sure am open to any ideas anyone might have.

zookie

Replacing the hood altogether. Wow, I hadn't really thought about that. Such a simple and great idea!

csmeance, you think the NBP black paint can be blended or something so the current, and I assume faded, black will still match? This paint either is just junk or so soft that it is susceptible to chips, etc easily so I can only assume that since 2004 that it has faded quite a bit.

I'll go talk to some body shops locally tomorrow during the day and see what they say. Is there anything I should look for in a paint shop to know if they are worth anything? Or just roll the dice?

Cerezo

That's a disaster... I wouldn't have bought it if I saw all those! I doubt you want to spend 5k for a good paint job, nor that I believe it costs that much. For 2k you can probably get a good paint job that you are satisfied and happy with, much better than buying some aftermarket wheels IMO.

HI OFECR

Cost is all over. Really depends on where you go.

In Cincy for GOOD WORK id go to ....

schmoes collision (excellent work honest people)

spade kreations (exceptional work great customer service)

boitnotts (Old school very well known)


They all have web sites check em out.

zookie

Thanks for the places. I will check them out now. I stopped by a place my family has used in the past and they quoted me $1,350 to paint everything in front of the doors. So, quarter panels, front bumper, lip, and hood. Work guaranteed obviously.

Definitely going to figure out this paint problem but also going to put wheels on car. I have to get wheels because I hit a pothole and bent one and the same guy who let the bird crap sit on the hood also rashed a couple other wheels. So, not worth replacing one wheel when others are rashed.

Good thing I got a great deal on the car itself.

zookie

HI OFECR

Thanks again. Called them all, just wanted to share:

schmoes collision - no longer does full body paint. No time.

spade kreations - starting price is $5k but they do a lot of high end stuff!

boitnotts - These guys are actually moving just around the corner, but they are getting me a quote next week after the move.

zookie

Anyone have an 04 or 05 and had some paint work done? The guy this morning said to just repaint the front panels (bumper, lip, fender panels, and hood) and that he can blend the paint so you won't even see that it is new paint.

Curious if anyone has any experience and can confirm if this is true.

anx1300c

iTrader: (2)

I had my hood, fenders, front bumper and mirrors painted for $650, cash deal, off the books. It was peppered with literally thousands of micro-chips. You can't tell it was painted without metering it. Yes, I know the guy and yes, he gave me a killer deal, but it still would've cost only $1100 to a regular customer, "on the books". You're talking roughly 35% of the car's total surface area to do this job, so it would be around 3-3.5k for the entire car. Keep looking; you'll find a place that will do good work for ~$1k. Tell them to throw an extra coat or two of clear on it and take really good care of it. I'm not a fan of clear bras; they end up looking like shit imo.

zookie

Nice. That's what I was hoping. My neighbor, who has only recently had to have a hood painted, has strong reservations about getting only part of the car painted because of "seeing" the difference between old and new paint. Glad to hear from someone who has had it done. I'll keep looking or see if I can talk this guy down some.

BTW, that's a sweet deal!!!

anx1300c

iTrader: (2)

As much as darker colors suck when it comes to keeping them clean, they are easier to do spot paint work on since they don't show contrast like the lighter colors. If you look closely at silver and white TL's, you'll see most of them have a mis-matched rear bumper from the factory. With black, they won't even have to blend into the doors like they would with the lighter colors. BTW, my hood looked a lot like yours, minus the really bad spots.

With the economy the way it is, less people are doing non accident paint work, so you should be able to find a deal.

csmeance

a quick polish is all you need to do instead of blending in panels. Repaint and refinsh the bumper, hood and front fenders. Wait 30 days for the paint to harden and then put a 3M clear bra on it to keep this from happening again.

powerflow

csmeance is right. Black, even pearl black does not need to be color blended. A good painter with a good paint system will know what to do.

Any good qualityshop will polish the adjacent panels when doing the job.

PeterUbers

iTrader: (1)

wow... i'd have so many other things to do w/ $5k.... but if it's important to you, that's what count

anx1300c

iTrader: (2)

He's not spending 5k. Not sure where you got that idea.

I hate cars

I've had mine redone and it looked as bad or worse than yours. I had the hood, front bumper and both front fenders repainted out of pocket. The rest of the car got repainted due to a parking lot hit on one side and a garbage truck on the other.

Since I have supplied this shop with a lot of business I got the hood and fenders done for $1,500 with the promise of a thicker than stock coat of paint. So far so good but it's only been 6 months or so, so too early to tell. It made a drastic difference in the way the car looked to me. Most people thought it was dusty all the time. Now after a wash it shines again without the dusty look. You get used to it because it happens over time but once it's repainted you'll know it's worth it.

They've always done an excellent job at matching the paint. The only way I could tell it had been repainted was the superior quality over factory on the clearcoat. The color match was perfect.

I hate cars

Damn. And I thought I got a good deal on the exact same work...

zookie

What kind of time does it take to get the work done? They need the car for a number of days? This is my daily driver so I'll have to get a rental or work something out with someone.

I hate cars

If you make an appointment and if (and it's a big if) the shop upholds it's promise as in starts on it right away, it's possible that you could drop it off on a Monday morning and pick it up on a Wednesday afternoon.

Hood, mirrors, bumper cover, and fenders are very easy to do and the last day is spent letting the paint dry.

In my experience it's more realistic to drop it off on Monday and pick it up Friday afternoon.

zenally

I have a black Acura TL 2003. I had a lot of swirl marks and millions of scratches. I had my car Tripple polished and waxed with a buffer by a professional detailer (Brian's Exclusive Detailing 704-525-5225) in Charlotte, NC. The CAR LOOKS DEEP BLACK AND WET AND HIGH SHINE NOW. The swirl marks are gone. It costed me $150. He even showed me how to do it myself so that no one else could screw it up anymore! EVERYONE compliments me on it and they think I had it painted because it looks that good!!! I catch people looking at it all of the time.

The major issues you have may need a little more professional work, but you really dont need to repaint that car. You will be amazed at whats under those scratches.

Good Luck!
Z

gatrhumpy

iTrader: (1)

One thing to keep in mind is that body shops now will have a paint meter and an instrument to know what exact colors to use on the car for seamless blending and a perfect paint match.

TheDanger

some of the stuff may come off if you take it to a body shop and get it wet sanded. The chips though would need to be repainted.

inboundmastery

I'm looking at getting my car fully painted. Had not thought to replace the part like the hood instead of having it repainted. Smart.

Crux

Actually the smart thing would be to still have the front of the car painted, a brand new hood that is newly painted will not blend in with the quarters, bumper or pillars.

Painting the correct was is surely not cheap.