GeorgeK30

2008 TL Type-S
Every time i clean my car (all the time) I see all of the scratches that the last owner put on my car.
The color is Nighthawk Black Pearl. The original stock color.
How much would it cost to put another coat on the car and make the exterior look brand new?

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

^you would be better off getting the car detailed by a professional detailer with the correct tools and experience.
this would cost SUBSTANTIALLY lower than re-painting the whole car.
a great detailer can get out ALL of the scratches and swirls for about 100-200 dollars.

a good repaint is in the neighborhood of $5-6000

SharksBreath

iTrader: (33)

^$100-200 for a full correction? umm...no.

i generally charge people more than double that amount for what OP is talking about. still cheaper than a full respray, sure.

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

^i was speaking in generalities, Sharksbreath.
not exact, as the price I mentioned ranged in one hundred dollars.

if the OP were so ever inclined, he could call up some detailing shops and ask for an estimate to get him closer in range

GeorgeK30

I also have a few places where the paint is chipping. How do i go about that?

SharksBreath

iTrader: (33)

sand and respray.

can't really fix chipped paint.

JJH

iTrader: (1)

If you decide to go the detail route, make sure you ask them what the detail includes. Specifically make sure that they wash-->claybar-->compound-->polish-->wax/seal. Otherwise you're likely getting an overpriced wash/wax with some overly shiny tire shine and interior dowsed with armorall.

You can click here to find a good local detailer that will do a much better job than any business or dealership. For the chips, you can either use touch up paint (which really sticks out on a black car) or you can have the panel repainted. Bumper respray will run you roughly $300. Entire front clip (hood, fenders, a pillars, front bumper) can get up to $1k or more. I paid $750 for the entire front clip on my NBP type-s, but I was referred to the guy by another Acurazine member so I got a buddy discount. It looked great after it was repainted though, also had them professionally paint the grille paint matched to the rest of the car.

erdoc48

I'd recommend spending a few hundred for a quality detail vs thousands on a repaint. The repaint will ultimately get defects in it such as chips and scratches as did the original paint. If your car is used for daily use, this is a given. Mine has some minor chips and scratches (mostly on the front bumper and front of the hood). The car has 91,000 miles and I do want to keep it in as new condition as possble, but you'll never recoup the money for a full paint job (meaning you won't increase the value of the car by the price of the paintjob). As for chips, they should be given attention for cosmetic reasons as well as to prevent rust (if the chip is deep enough).

bouncer07

$500-$800 range for a full detail

GeorgeK30

http://www.southburycarcare.com/cate...il-service.htm
The 4 step pro shine would be good?

maharajamd

iTrader: (1)

Hey man. It's pretty hard for us to recommend something when we haven't seen any pictures of the damage. Snap a few shots and post them up and we will do our best to send you in the right direction.

JJH

iTrader: (1)

The process looks good, the price just looks too low for what they are doing. I have to wonder how they would turn a profit doing 8-10 hour detail jobs like that and only charging $299 which leads me to believe that they are likely cutting corners.

But yeah, post some pictures of the paints condition. Turn your flash on on your camera and lets see them swirls!

bouncer07

As long as they're not key scratches..

maharajamd

iTrader: (1)

Or scratches near the door handles from a giant diamond ring!

I walked up to my wifes civic the other day and was like holy fck! ><

I knew I should have gotten that bish a tiny pebble and then bought myself that turbo! >:|

Scottwax

Uh...absolutely not. Especially with NHP paint, which tends to have a soft and sticky clear coat. And there isn't a detailer on the planet who can promise that they can remove ALL scratches and swirls out of a car. What you can remove is based on clear coat thickness and about .5 mil is the absolute max you can remove without causing issues with the clear coat's UV protection. Anything deeper cannot be safely removed.

Cheap details generally mean poor technique that is based on speed, not quality, bulk detailing products (again, focus on price) and lots of fillers to hide the swirls they are putting into the paint using a rotary and a filthy wool pad.

Without seeing the car in person, I'd say the starting price would be in the $300-400 range just for the exterior with the understanding that the price could go higher. A lot higher. And that would be without a promise of perfection, just a substantial improvement. If the paint is excessively and deeply scratched to the point where I can't make a decent improvement in the finish, I'd turn it down.

And that's assuming the clear on his NHP paint cooperates. It seems to have the same issues that Subaru paint and pearl Infiniti colors have, in that polishes weld themselves to the paint and you have to play around with what you have on hand to find whats actually going to work. If you can't get any compounds to wipe off without marring up the paint, you're kind of stuck with then using what works and hoping it takes out enough defects.

My advice to anyone considering the following vehicles:

1. Any Subaru
2. Honda/Acura NHP or the new metallic black (not sure what its cold)
3. Jet black Nissan, BMW or Audi

is to take into consideration that the clears on those cars are either excessively soft (BMW/Audi jet black), haze prone (Nissan jet black) or have sticky clear coats (Honda NHP or Subarus) and they are likely to have issues with the paint that will make keeping the finish up a timely and costly experience and they would do good to avoid them altogether.

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

geez, it was not an absolute.

does the words "about, like, around, range" mean anything to you guise!? lol

SharksBreath

iTrader: (33)

^well you said between $100-200...which is a far cry from what someone would charge someone else for this type of work.

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

thank you, Aaron!

SharksBreath

iTrader: (33)

don't thank me, just don't let it happen again.

maharajamd

iTrader: (1)

When I took my NBP to a very nice detail shop they quoted me something like $500. I'd consider my paint to be in better then average shape at that point. Seriously a few hours with good tools and products and you'd be amazed what you can do. People charge that because they can not because they should.

ATLS_666

Does it make sense to a fresh layer of clear coat after a paint correction detail? Is it financially worth it, or is it just better off getting the car resprayed?

csmeance

In my opinion, the only time a respray is necessary on a car is if the current paint on the car has failed (Crow's feet, peeling, etc) or if the car needs a dent or key damage fixed. Otherwise it isn't an option.

Detailing is the process by which you fix all the imperfections on the current paint! It's not a very hard thing to do, but it does require time an patience. The 2nd or 3rd poster who suggested 100-200 dollars may be correct! If your car has a lot of light surface defects (scratches that can be removed by 1 step polish) then 125 dollars will fix your car at a local cheap place. But be wary since the same place for 125 can also damage the paint by leaving behind buffer trails, burning though paint, etc. The key is to find someone experienced! You don't need concours level detailing on your car that's 200 dollars an hour in labor.

A respectable detailer that knows what they are talking about will usually charge 200 dollars minimum for a job that corrects at least 75% of the defects and seals the car. When I say 75% correction they will more than likely remove 90% of the spiderwebs you see, 60-70% of scratches as well. This is done via 1 step polishing! A polish that is lightly abrasive is put on the paint and worked via a buffer. If you have deeper scratches, a lot of oxidation, etc a 2 or 3 step polishing/compounding may be needed. Just remember that the chips are NOT repaired during a detail.

To fix chips there are 2-3 options. You can use a tinted wax to hopefully cover it up. If not there there are 2 options. The first is straightforward and is a repaint of the affected part. 350 is the normal price on a good paint job that is warrantied for life against defects and paint issues. The second is a lot cheaper and simpler! Buy a bottle of touchup paint and place a needle/toothpick in it. Coat the tip of it in paint and then place into the chip. Capillary action will draw the paint into the chip covering ONLY the chipped area and will form a blob. Wait 2-3 days for it to dry. Take 3000 grit sandpaper and glue it on to the pack of a pencil eraser. Sand the blob lightly until it feels level with the paint. You will have a LOT of haze/light scratches from the sand paper but don't worry! Take a simple polish like Scratch-X 2.0 (available at walmart) and it'll clean up the 3000 grit and make it shine like a mirror!

TL_Trooper

Hit up a well known collision center and get an estimate, pointing out all the scratches. Tell them you don't want to repaint EVERYTHING. Let them know that you want undamaged panels to be blended where possible and that should help reduce cost by some. You'd be looking at around 3-5k.

maharajamd

iTrader: (1)

One big thing I've noticed is the extremely small "chips" that create that "galaxy" look on the hood and front part of the fenders. Especially with NBP. So small that fixing each one with a toothpick would take ages.

A technique I learned was to put a good amount of paint down on the hood and then use a small squeegee to "roll" the paint over the bad areas. When done right it will fill in the small chips and leave a very thin layer of paint on the car. That thin layer can then be polished off leaving the area looking brand new.

Scottwax

Just adding more clear would cost nearly what a full paint job would. The best option if the paint issues can be corrected is to then apply Optimum Opti-Coat, which is a 2 micron thick layer of ceramic resin that will actually be harder than an OEM clear coat. Its not cheap, $60 for about enough for 2 cars and there is prep work involved but shouldn't add more than $250 or so to a paint correction if you pay to have it done.

Eh....I'd stay away from chains like Service King, they've replaced a bunch of cars in Texas that they've butchered so bad they couldn't fix them. What you want is a shop that can show you cars they've done in the full sun that don't show any buffer swirls, sanding marks visible under the paint, etc. And don't price shop. Good work costs money and it takes time.