Hi

I just got a '96 3.2 TL premium pkge which is pretty nice but with a few dents and dings here and there. I was planning on putting new rims off a '03 acura tl or possibly getting a new jet black paint job. I know the rims would cost me around 800, how much do you think a decent paint job (with a few small dents to be fixed) would cost?

 

If you go to Maco: 3-500$.

If you go to a car dealer. Like a Cadilac dealer: 2-4000$.

I'm in Ft.Worth, Tx. And I've looked at both.
Maco will do a sanding then spray without removing the moldings and trim. Where the Cadilac dealer will remove all the moldings and trim, sand and paint them seprately.

When comparing the two. The quality of Cadilac puts Maco to shame.

I saw one car at Maco where they forgot to wipe the car so when they painted it all the fine debris was enbedded into the new paint job. They had to do it all over.

 

well I would be willing to spend around 1500, I guess I'll give some dealerships a call. I figured that the black color and those Honda inspire tail lights and clear front fog lights would be pretty sharp looking. Overall I am trying not to spend more than 2 grand fixing it up.

 

Where is the best place to get the clear front bumper lights?

 

If you don't want to spend more than $2,000, don't get a new paintjob. I have seen different prices of paintjobs, and to get something that looks good along with some repair should cost you more than $2,000. Also, what color is the car now?

Rims would be the way to go, just make sure they are the right size/offset.

Clear bumper lights, I got mine off eBay for less than $50 shipped, I don't remember the exact price or person off the top of my head though.

Inspire lights will probably cost you a few hundred alone, there is a set up on eBay right now that you might want to look into. You could also tint a section of them, or the entire thing for much cheaper but still have a slightly modified look.

The fog lights are really personal taste, I love the yellow ones, but some people think clear is the way to go. It's cheap though and doesn't seem too hard so give it a try.

 

Take a look around at some independant body shops in your area too, u can get a good paint job for a decent price. A complete job with no colour change and minor body work should cost between $1500-$2000 for a quality job that will look good. You are going to have some minor imperfections at that price. To get a FULL restorations-class paint job you are probably looking at anywhere between $4000-10000 depending on colour, repairs and attnetion to detail! Tough choiuce, I would contact a Dent Docxtor type place too and see what they can do to remove the dings and then get the car professionally buffed, you'd be amazed what that can do providing there is no paint missing.

 

Keep in mind that shops like maaco are independently owned. So go to the shops check out their work and see how it is. When I went shopping with my friend for paintjobs a shop like maaco was willing to paint his car and do body work for like 800 bucks. Their work was decent but it wasn't the quality we were looking for. We went to a shop like MOB works here in so cal, they wanted like 3g's for the same work. But their work is good and they paint a lot of magazine cars. A good paint job can be had for 1500 bucks if your willing to put work into it yourself. This is all for same colors, color change cost more.