for those of you with really bad paint or brand new cars
 

For those of you who haven't seen this yet. NASCAR wrap their cars in vinyl instead of painting. Folks in Europe are doing the same with their cars. Pretty cool way to preserve your paint or avoid a costly paint job.

http://jalopnik.com/399961/bmw-owner-changes-his-3+series-color-from-black-to-white-with-tape

http://jalopnik.com/assets/resources...8/BMW_wrap.jpg



http://jalopnik.com/assets/images/ga...9d3c82b9_o.jpg

Most race cars are mostly or completely wrapped in vinyl. A fun alternative but I have yet to see a full wrap installation like this that that I would consider even close to showroom.

Even the RS Spyders.

I've always been curious -- how do you "repair" vinyl? I mean, at some point, it will get a rock-chip, right? Is there some liquid or a patch? Or do you have to just get the whole area re-done...?

you replace that section.

You can change colors anytime you wish, as an added advantage.

I was quoted 4500 dollars to wrap my black 911 in white.. forget that

Its the best option for leased fleet vehicles. It's becoming popular in the exotic crowd. But yeah, done right it can be expensive. I did the stripes on my 944 out of boredom, the worked well for a year until I pulled them off without too much effort.

$4500 buys a nice new paint job.

It all comes together now. The guys at RUF recently did a Carrera GT in matte black and I didn't realize what the photos showed until today.

.... a damn good paint job

I hear it's around $3k. I'll do a costly paint job instead, thanks!

plastic wrap
 

Last weekend I saw a car with a plastic wrap on the hood. It was a non- replective black, but if you like that sort of thing, it looked technically good. One application of this might be on bumpers. I was given a quote to paint the bumper on my then Nissan 240 SX SE of $300-400. The Nissan had a dull finish on the bumper already so if the color match was available it would work. How much do you think it would cost?

i read this thread.... the idea of all vinyl is nice , but it's too $$$. it's like clear bra on the whole car.... for big $$.

my 2000 has rock chips on the bumper cover and hood. I called a local body shop today and got a quote of $750 for a new paint job on thsoe sections, blending into the fenders.

i'd rather spend under a thousand for new paint, then maybe clearbra the front.

My other car has a clear bra option from the factory on all the typical areas.. 1000 dollars

$4500K paint job???!!! sign me up!!

I paid $1500 to have my whole front end repainted and the shop owner was pissed as hell that his partner had agreed to "charge me so little". He claimed $2500 was more in order but the economy was forcing him to concentrate on volume.
I don't kow if I can go anywhere around these parts (at least mid range shop)and get the whole car repainted for less than $10K.

Perfectlap, that must be a NJ/NYC issue.

I can get a proper paint job (where the panels are removed, painted, and reinstalled as if the car were a classic car for about $4000 here in Houston.

So anyone reading this should definitely send their Porsche out of state for a paint job if they live in NJ or NYC!

$4K? who is doing the work? prison labor? LOL That's a no brainer. Proper care and waxing and the paint ought to be good for another 20 years.
Some colors like silver well you really don't want to trust with just any shop, otherwise you better off repainting the whole car.

By the way, I took my car to the best shop in the area for a quote. They do work for the most well know high end Porsche/Aston Martin/MB dealer in the state. When I arrived there was a powder blue Lambo about to be sprayed and a Aston Martin DB9 with what I can only describe as James Bond Quantum of Solace type damage. They quoted me $6K for the hood, front bumper and one fender.
That was a top notch operation though, the cars are prep'd in one facility and then driven to another site for the actual paint and drying.

Same situation here in LA, OC...The auto repair industry in SoCal is saturated, tons of competition. You just got to know the right person, and place to hook you with the best deal. The same goes with foreign and domestic auto parts (genuine, or aftermarket).

Cali is Auto Heaven...AT BEST :)

The shop that quoted me $4k does frame-off restorations of vintage cars that are bound for shows and concours events. It's the kind of place that does the regular base coats then six or eight coats of lacquer for a "wet" look.

I'm sure a shop that caters to Lambo and AM customers can get away with charging far more for their work considering the cars they're working on are worth $100k ~ $1 million bucks.

A boxster like mine hardly warrants a $10k paint job. In fact, $4k is too much for a car worth $12k, but I'll probably pony up and spend it one day because I cannot afford to replace the car with a newer one and probably would not replace it even if I had the cash. The newer boxsters are simply not that much better looking than mine to spend the money.

Of course, if they finally come out with that concept boxster I saw a while back that looks like a cross between a 987 and a CGT, I could be persuaded to buy it as a CPO unit.