Hello folks! I own a 06 TL and am looking for some paint. Recently someone scratched both the front bumper as well as the rear (beyond buffing) in the same day . I am located in the Bay Area of California and am need in some advice, I heard about earl scheib but don't know if its a good place to go or not. Also people have been telling me that if i just paint the bumpers they will not end up blending together. I have about a 1000$ limit (give or take). Thanks guys

 

Word of Advice:
Run, don't walk away from any Earl Scheib dealer. Clasically, they would paint any car any color for $99.95 (their old days). What they don't tell you is that they will also spray the wheels, windows, tires (you get the picture). You have a $35K car- why would you want to get it painted by anyone less than a professional? You always get what you pay for.
Just my $0.02

 

Thanks for the reply, any advice on where to go?

 

"they would paint any car any color for $99.95" .........oh my god, I remember that famous slogan. I actually had a car painted there back in 1984.... $99.95 and they DO PAINT THE WHEELS......ROTFLMAO.

You get what you pay for..... please go to a reputable body shop.

I didn't know Earl was still painting cars......lol.

 

Go to a place that handles exotics- I'm not suggesting you have to go maximum dollar, but don't do it on the cheap either. I'm from NJ, so I don't know of any place in CA that handles exotics, but I'm sure there are a lot of them out by you. You should be able to have them blend the paint on the bumpers to match the rest of the car- it shoudn't be necessary to paint the whole car.

 

I just checked their website: www.earlscheib.com and they allege they save customers money by not removing emblems and moldings, they just carefully tape around them (!). If I ever have to repaint my car, I plan on spending at least $2K, and that's likely a conservative figure.

 

How bad are the scratches? Did you try a quote from the dealer that sold you the car?

 

No Earl Shieb....trust me.....thats where you go to paint a hoopty or a 4x4 truck that you offroad all the time....WHERE LOOKS ARE NOT IMPORTANT! As previously stated....they are bargain basement....more or less the K-Mart of painting places...

 

Thanks soo much for all of the quick replies guys. Haven't got a quote at the dealer yet but I'll be sure to check that out. This car is my baby and thanks to yall I've avoided a cheap, low quality paint job. One more question while we're at it, true that highway patrol in California cannot pull you over in neighborhood streets? Frickin guy gave me a ticket for tinted windows and no front plate. I'll keep everyone posted on paint and bring pictures!

 

In Indiana anyway...untrue. A state police officer can pull anybody over anywhere within the state.

 

You kids aren't old enough - I remember when the slogan was any car, any color for $29.95. What they didn't tell you was the lowball price didn't include any prep work. My father actually had them repaint a car back in the 60's. The total cost, including prep was more like $90 than $30. In truth, the paint job was fine for an old car, if you could live with the fact that the tires and most of the chrome was now blue. They weren't really big on masking off much more than the glass.

For OP, I'd seek out a good paint shop and check some references. Painting the flexible bumper covers and (a) getting the paint to flex right, (b) getting the right "sheen" and (c) getting it to match the rest of the car takes someone who knows what they're doing.

 

One of my friends had his car painted by them in high school. His car was red, and had it painted blue. We went to go pick it up, and they didn't even paint the door jams.. You would open the blue door and the inside of the jam was still red. There were many things like that. They didn't take of the front license plate to paint the bumper underneath. They just masked the plate and painted around it. So if you looked closely... you would see the red bumper behind the plate.

He wanted a $99 paint job and he got one, that's for sure.

I wouldn't let those guys even stand next to my car, let alone paint it. Go to a "real" body shop

 

I'll paint your bumpers using some rattle can paint for $15.99.

 

I my experience, it doesn't matter how much you pay Earl Scheib . . . they don't do any prep work anyway. I had them paint a "beater" (old person's term for a hooptie) back when I was in college. Three months later I had the windsheild replaced and when the tape came off, so did the paint. The hadn't sanded the original paint job one lick. I was able to peel off the paint like an orange peel.

 

Ask a couple of Acura dealers which body shop(s) the dealers use to do work; most dealers don't have their own body shops but need really good work to restore new cars damaged in transit and in lots.

Re: Earl Schieb-- yes, the franchises mask, but not well. One of my high school buddies had a former cop car painted there- overspray ended up on the hubcaps, the rubber around the front and rear glass, the bumper chrome, the door handles and on the windows themselves BEYOND where the masking tape and paper ended!