My car hasn't been garaged for (as far as i can tell) years. So i have an issue with the paint.

It's just... crappy looking.

I've taken the oxidation off of the head and tail lights, and that looks good.

What can i do to try to "restore" the finish...

I've had 3 people tell me to re paint it... but that would cost me more than i bought it for. I like the car, but i'm not going to toss money in a hole.

 

Does "crappy looking" mean oxidized with rail dust (rust particles in clear coat), tar stains, bug stains, bird poop stains, dull looking, etc? If so, you can make it look brand new again with a proper clay bar treatment. And I do mean "brand new showroom condition"....with a slick feel to the touch and reflecting like a mirror. I know....I did this to mine. The previous owner sold the car to me cause he was quoted $4000 for a paint job. He thought the paint is the best it could be with just weekly washes, lol.

 

Some pics would help.

 

Pics would help us better tell you your options.


Does it look like this?

 

If your car looks like that you need a paint job.

 

Ha ha....yes....if your car has psoriasis, you definitely need a new skin!

 

Hey BetterBob, what color is your TL ?
Darker colors and red oxidize badly over time if not properly taken care of.
Ya could try a really good cleaning ....... using mineral spirits to get the residual crap off the surface, than as mentioned try a clay bar or some fine polishing compound to rejuvenate what's left of the clear cote. If the finish is getting clouded and patchy looking, there's little that ya can do. Maybe it's just the flat surfaces that require attention ? Yeah, a pic would really help !!!

 

Damn-how did you get a picture of my car?
Yes, my ABP is that bad now.
As much as I like it, I just can't come to grips with spending the $$$ for even just a decent paint job. I'd rather put that $$ towards a 3G TL, but then I lose a lot of whatever resale value my 2G has left. It looks so bad I'm starting to get embarrassed driving it.

 

Pics.

 

Here's my car. Not nearly as bad as that.. I hope.

 

Car needs a new paint job. Your clear coat failed.

 

Best case scenario, you call around for some quotes just on the painting and do all prep work (sanding etc.) yourself.

 

That's too bad. Oh well.

What would you estimate the cost to paint it would be if I did the prep?

 

Yeah, as stated that is the classic clear coat failure. If you re-clear it, it won't look any better. You'd need to sand it down and give it some new paint.

 

As I am NOT promoting any particular auto paint company over another, nor would I actually do this myself, but I've read that if you take the time and do a solid job prepping (that is all required for new paint such as sanding, bondo, etc.), you can get great results from the low end paint jobs offered by Maaco.

This is definitely a DIY that can be done. I've seen pics from another forum of guys who did all the prep and sent the car in for a sray and it came back looking good. Just understand that the quality of paint used may not be as good though.

Again, I have to stress that you do all the prep, otherwise you will be disappointed. My little brother had his Civic Si re-srayed at a Maaco (paint was in a similar condition to yours and he did have an accident). He got new fender and door put on with my dad and was going to do a low end spray so eveything would be color-matched, but was upsold to their $800 package due to the need for some prep (not offered in the low end) and they said it would get 3 coats and a clear coat. When he went to get it, the paint was horrible. My parents refused to take the car and stated this was unacceptable as this was expected from the low end spray (no clearcoat, you can see original paint underneath still) and they upsold him saying that they would sand, bondo, etc. for better results.

In the end, they called corporate and another Maaco to complain. They finally agreed to re-paint it and it still looked half assed, but much better after the second go around.

Now, I personally would not do it , but its worth a shot if you do not want to invest a lot of money and if you are willing to do all the paint prep beforehand.

 

If he does not have any experience in painting at all i would not recommend doing it himself. Yes prep is a huge deal but so is the painting itself, uneven coats, runs from spraying heavy. Then you have the clear coat, you have to wet sand and buff. It is a long process and if you screw it up you are out the total cost of the paint job which for a whole car, paint, clear coat, paint gun, tarps, tape, that's over $300 wasted.

And yes Maaco can do a crap job, but you get what you pay for.

 

I totally agree... I was more answering the OP's question. There are youtube videos out there and several DIYs on the prep. It can be done, just time consuming.

On the RSX forum I frequent, there is a guy who rattle can his entire car and got professional paint results. The paint has held up fine for the past 2 years with no issues and he provided a step-by-step DIY on how he did it.

Like you said, it is a huge process, but like any DIY, if you take the time, you can get through it with good to fair results.

 

Hey BetterBob, Ya can get a lot of money into a professional paint job.

Maybe more than the car's actual present value. Check several independent body shops for some quotes to compare.
Prices may range from a $1000 "Maaco" job to over $3000 for a quality finish. So, compare prices and look over the shop.

It's all a matter of what ya want the end result to look like and how much ya can afford to spend. Ya gotta put things into perspective when you're dealing with a 10 + year old car.

 

Upon further review, my paint looks fine.

I don't know what everyone is talking about. *closes eyes, puts fingers in ears, and chants "LALALALALALA"*

 

Yeah, "Merry Christmas" ...."LA, LA ...LALA, LA", the festive spirit of the season has softened your senses. Ha, hah, hoah !!!

 

If your really interested and ready to get the paint job call a minimum of 5 shops and get there input on options and price.


You might be able to do the prep work yourself and get a professional paint job out of it for a competitive price.

 

If someone wanted to attempt doing some or all of the prep work, what exactly would/should that entail? Do you want to sand everywhere down to bare metal??, or just down to solid primer coat??

What about the sides, where the clear coat hasn't failed and the paint still looks pretty good?

What all do you want to remove from the car, trim, emblems, grills, lights, etc???

 

Didnt watch the whole video, but here are the basic for beginners

 

Hey AlanW, prepping a car prior to painting isn't overly difficult but can be time consuming. Mask or remove things that ya don't want scratched or painted before sanding. There's no need to sand all of the old paint off. Basically, ya want a clean smooth level base surface being free of contaminants and deglossed prior to painting. If the sides are good, simply scuffing the clearcote will give the surface some bite for the new paint to adhere to. Wash the car down with a degreasing solvent such as mineral spirits to remove residue.

It's best to block sand the old paint by using about a 500 grit wet sandpaper with water. You can also use a 3M med scratch pad to skuff up the old surface with. The old paint needs to be leveled and feather-edged for a smooth uniform surface. Nicks, sratches, chips, dents...etc. require extra attention with spot filler, detail sanding and priming the affected area.

 

In addition, it might save you a lot of money if you do the prep work yourself and hire somebody just for the paint.


In my opinion 2,3, or even 4 grand for a paint job is way to much for a paint job when the cars almost cost that much. save your money and put it towards a mod or increase in performance.

 

Hey AlanW, if you're sides are in relatively good condition, ya may want to have a local body repair shop give ya a quote on refinishing just the "top flat" areas of the car which the clear-cote was damaged by the sun's UV.

Darker colors and reds are more susceptible to this problem and it may be cheaper to just have the affected areas repainted.

 

naw, the sides relatively good compared to the terrible tops, but not good enough to skip by any means.