986 Full-body Repaint Questions

[Allen]

Hey guys,

I have a Carmon red 2004 Boxster I need to have repainted. I have extremely noticeable acid rain spots on the hood, rear trunk, bumpers and tops of the side panels. They're even more noticeable in sunlight. It's been like this for years, and I can't take it anymore. I've taken it to a good detailer to see if they could be buffed out but, after running a few tests, he said the spots are etched into the paint and the only way to remove them is to repaint.

Insult to Injury

A few days ago we had a bad snowstorm here in NJ. I backed my Boxter out to get to my snowblower and it slid back just enough to brush the side of my wife's car in the adjacent spot in the driveway. When I checked it out, I saw a 3 inch long area, about a quarter of an inch thick on the driver's side rear panel where the paint was rubbed/scraped off above the wheel well.

This is the last straw for me. The car's in perfect condition with the exception of the rain spots and new paint scrape, but I just can't bring myself to drive it in this condition, so I've decided to have the whole thing repainted.

My questions are:

(a) Where should I go to have a professional, full-body repaint job in NJ or PA? I know they have to remove all the panels and prep. I know it's labor intensive. I just want to know where the best place is to have the job done.

(b) How much should I be prepared to pay for the job? I have no dents or dings, so it seems to be a simple process of remove, prep, sand, prime, paint, replace. I want it to look like new when it's done. I want it painted the same color.

(c) Approximately how long would I be without the vehicle? This is not my daily driver. In fact I probably drive it only 4 or 5 days a month, and have less than 30k miles on it. I just want to know what to expect.

I've read this and other forums, and I haven't seen a solid answer to my questions. I can't even get a straight answer from those idiots at Princeton Porsche...not that they will ever touch my car again.

I am concerned about the car holding its value, but I'm not planning to sell it, so I'm not really concerned about resale. I just want the car to look like it did when I bought it 6 years ago and a new paint job would do it.

Any information would be appreciated.

Thanks

[Lil bastard]

Hard to imagine that a car which is washed and waxed regularly would develop such a problem - to the degree you state.

If doing a near-factory quality repaint be prepared to fork out the far side of $5k, maybe more. Given Boxster resale prices, that'd be a HARD choice to make because you won't increase/maintain it's value by that amount.

But, that may not be necessary. The car could be color sanded (wet sanded through the etching), leveled and then shot with clearcoat. Figure $1500-$3000 + whatever accident damage from the scrape. This estimate can range WILDLY by region, so have 2 shops give you bids - if they're waaay apart, seek a third. Sounds like a bit of legwork, but you've stated you want perfection - that's the best guarantee of getting it.

You just cannot achieve a factory paintjob anywhere near under $10k, but with the color coat intact, a good clearcoat job will come very close. It's when you redo the color coat that you start seeing the quality degrade.

Make sure that the shop knows what they're doing, that they have experience with good clearcoating. Be sure to inspect the shop - their work will often reflect the shop condition. Make sure they have a good shooting/drying booth. Try the local Porsche Club or newsletter for recommendations.

If you're skeptical, have them color sand and clear one panel like the bumper cover. If satisfied, give them the rest of the car.

Cheers!

[Johnny Danger]

Above and beyond the cost, perhaps the most difficult task ahead of you is finding someone capable of doing an outstanding job of repainting your vehicle. In all of my years as an automobile enthusiast, I have seen everything from "frame off" restorations to simple collision repairs - the final results of which have run the gamut in terms of quality and perfection. Indeed, I have literally seen "concours" level work turned out of some of the most spartan and humble of shops, to absolute "crap" being pushed out the door by many so called state of the art facilities. Depending upon your level of perfectionism, to fully restore your boxster to its original finish, would venture to say that 10K might even be a little conservative. Good luck on your quest.

[Perfectlap]

Well I had my front end repainted when the economy first started falling off the cliff. That meant painting hood, front bumper, fenders. Actually they also agreed to install my new GT3 front bumper which they pulled out of off-site storage for me, fix two inside dings on the hood (closed the hood with something sticking up inside) and repair a small dent near one of the wheel wells. That shop unfortunately closed recently, otherwise I would have made the recommendation because they color match was perfect. I keep my paint freshly waxed year round so I guess that made it easier. The price was about $1,100.
The top body shop probably in the state (Quality in Rahway) who do all of Ray Catena Aston Martin/Porsche/Maybach's work wanted about $4K. So I figure the middle and high end figure for the complete job in this neck of the woods would be between $3.5K and $11K.

p.s.
Use an acrylic paste wax with each season change and don't wash it in those automatic car washes more than once in a blue moon like in the dead of winter.
My car is 10 years old next month and still shines like new. Installing a clear bra is also a big help which I didn't do on my new bumper and I recently hit something that took a nice quarter size chunk of paint off the lower portion. I'll have to paint it again...sigh.

[Allen]

Thanks Perfectlap!

At least now I have a lead. I'll contact Ray Catena. They're about 10 minutes from my office.

Uh-oh....better Get Maaco!

[Perfectlap]

Originally Posted by Allen

Thanks Perfectlap!

At least now I have a lead. I'll contact Ray Catena. They're about 10 minutes from my office.

I might have been unclear, Ray Catena's preferred shop wanted $4K just to paint the front end. I wonder if I'm being conservative in saying they would charge $11K for the whole car. If you did understand congrats!! That's a lot of moolah..
When I visited there they had powder blue Lamborghini with matching powder blue wheels and were in the middle of fixing a AM Vantage that looked like it was damaged in shipping because it had long, deep dents going across the roof and onto the rear quarter panel!
Maybe the shop (Quality Auto Body) can refer you to a smaller shop they feed business too. Let us know because I have to repaint my rear bumper but I'm thinking about waiting until I can get my hands a Euro spec 03-04 rear bumper.

[yabbo]

I have some swirl marks on the hood of my 06 Boxster s and have looked into this myself. i can get the hard coat ultra smooth that does the acid rain protection from the Prosche dealer ship in Arlington VA for about 1200.

[Eletson]

Do what I did. Go to a body shop and have the car buffed out. Take off the first layer of paint and most acid rain spots will be gone. As for the scrape, try to have them color match that area and blend. All in should be about 750 bucks.

Eric

Originally Posted by Allen

Hey guys,

I have a Carmon red 2004 Boxster I need to have repainted. I have extremely noticeable acid rain spots on the hood, rear trunk, bumpers and tops of the side panels. They're even more noticeable in sunlight. It's been like this for years, and I can't take it anymore. I've taken it to a good detailer to see if they could be buffed out but, after running a few tests, he said the spots are etched into the paint and the only way to remove them is to repaint.

Insult to Injury

A few days ago we had a bad snowstorm here in NJ. I backed my Boxter out to get to my snowblower and it slid back just enough to brush the side of my wife's car in the adjacent spot in the driveway. When I checked it out, I saw a 3 inch long area, about a quarter of an inch thick on the driver's side rear panel where the paint was rubbed/scraped off above the wheel well.

This is the last straw for me. The car's in perfect condition with the exception of the rain spots and new paint scrape, but I just can't bring myself to drive it in this condition, so I've decided to have the whole thing repainted.

My questions are:

(a) Where should I go to have a professional, full-body repaint job in NJ or PA? I know they have to remove all the panels and prep. I know it's labor intensive. I just want to know where the best place is to have the job done.

(b) How much should I be prepared to pay for the job? I have no dents or dings, so it seems to be a simple process of remove, prep, sand, prime, paint, replace. I want it to look like new when it's done. I want it painted the same color.

(c) Approximately how long would I be without the vehicle? This is not my daily driver. In fact I probably drive it only 4 or 5 days a month, and have less than 30k miles on it. I just want to know what to expect.

I've read this and other forums, and I haven't seen a solid answer to my questions. I can't even get a straight answer from those idiots at Princeton Porsche...not that they will ever touch my car again.

I am concerned about the car holding its value, but I'm not planning to sell it, so I'm not really concerned about resale. I just want the car to look like it did when I bought it 6 years ago and a new paint job would do it.

Any information would be appreciated.

Thanks

[Racer Boy]

Are you aware that thread was 8 years old?

[Stroked & Blown]

[heliguy]

I'm sure he painted it by now.