Guys I Need some advise...

I have a deep scratch on my driver door and since insurance is paying to fix it the body shop guy says he will go ahead and paint the whole car (that way he will fix the 8-9 dings also)?

Is this a wise idea ?

 

If the insurance is paying for it, and you get the dings fixed along with the paint job, go for it.

 

I wouldn't. A good complete repaint should be between $3-5K. I doubt that's what your body shop is "throwing in". The repaint won't hold up as well as the original paint. Also, at resale you'll take in the shorts when you try to explain why the entire car had to be repainted.

 

I agree with thejavagod. The good decend repaint for
the whole car should cost more $$ because they
need to take out all the trims and prep it well. So
be careful on it. Even on the area you repaint, I suggest
you look for a body shop that offers life-time warranty.
Just to be sure those paint job won't fade after years.

For door ding/dent, if it is small and has no paint
scratched, I suggest you look for those paintless
dent/ding repairer. They have some way to
pop those dent/ding out with out re-painting.
My friend's Lexus RX300 had a dent removed before and
the result is quite amazing..

-- william

 

The whole car? It's a lot of work (i.e. $) Make sure they prep it well.

 

I would ask for a written statement of work itemized before you make any decisions. This way, if anything goes wrong, they are responsible for any further repairs.

 

well, the car is leased and I will probably be selling it in another 6 months or so...

btw, how will anyone know that it was repainted? This same guy did work on my brothers car and I could not make out the difference from the original paint job.

 

The trained eye can usually tell if they spend enough time looking. Most people off the street cannot and many would not even think to look. However, the dealer or a potential buyer does well to look at a paint job closely. Painted panels indicate repaired body damage and a full repaint can indicate major damage. If detected, it is a bargaining chip that can make a car worth less or less desireable.

It is almost impossible to make a paint job perfect. The most common signs are tape lines or overspray around the door/hood jambs and/or window rubber. You also usually find overspray under the car on the exhaust or under the wheel wells over the undercoat.

The guys who do high end custom work spend a lot of time removing everything and extensively prepping the car. This is what makes their work so expensive. Most production paint shops will not spend that kind of time and can charge much less. That's not to say the second group does shoddy work. You are just getting what you pay for.

Let the buyer beware.

 

Go for it, I have had vehicles painted and have painted a number of vehicles and if you get a good paint match, which a good paint shop should be able to do, it will look good. They key would be making sure you had a good paintshop/painter. I took my time when painting cars, spending most of your time on prep work and taping/masking, they came out great.

I disagree with the quality statement, finger paint would be better quality than the crap they sprayed on our cars.
I picked the best paint I could, sprayed 7+ coats and a heavy clear, and NONE of them ever chipped like ours do.

Again the key would be finding the shop that will take the time to prep the car. Let them know you are going to be picky as heck, and if you find things YOU consider imperfections that they will fix it under the price of the ORIGINAL bill.

If you have a bill from a paintshop that showed no repairs, from a high end shop, I don't understand why anyone would have a problem with that.

My 2 cents...