What did you pay for A New Paint Job?

[SteelStroke]

While the mechanical issues with my 03 S have taken top priority since purchase (Jun 16).

Just curious what others have paid to have a new paint job.

[dijinn]

I'm planning to get my 04 S painted this winter. Been shopping around and "reasonable" quotes I've gotten are in the $4k to $4.5k range (from fairly reputable shops). There's a custom shop in the area that quoted me $7.5k but they are considered the "best" in the area.

[itsnotanova]

I paint my own vehicles and the cost of materials will make your head spin. The base paint in arena red cost $235 a quart for my boxster. Luckily these are pretty small cars, but you can easily spend over $1000 in painting supplies. It really depends on color and quality of the paint you use.

[Luv2Box]

$5,000 and insurance paid it.

[bwdz]

Quality paint is not cheap. If you are just repainting the same color that makes it a heck of a lot cheaper. If the car does not have many dings or scratches that need work that makes it a lot cheaper. If you do a lot of the prep work (only do it if you are good at it otherwise leave it to professionals) it makes it a lot more reasonable. Even if you are not great at doing things yourself I would at least remove the lights and trim yourself, remove the bumpers and scuff them down and let someone touch it up and just paint it if you are looking to save, it could be done under $2k with a really professional looking job with good quality paint

[78F350]

Originally Posted by dijinn

I'm planning to get my 04 S painted this winter. Been shopping around and "reasonable" quotes I've gotten are in the $4k to $4.5k range (from fairly reputable shops). There's a custom shop in the area that quoted me $7.5k but they are considered the "best" in the area.

dijinn's price range is exactly where I would put it.

The rest of this post is going to be rambling away from the specific topic, you don't need to read it, but a bit of OCD is going to make me keep reading this thread until I dump the information.
A few years ago, I put together a Honda Del Sol from parts of three or more cars. The suspension was almost all new, brakes upgraded, JDM engine, and a freshly rebuilt transmission. Mechanically it was about as good as a 20 year old Honda could be, but it looked like crap.
I did some minor body work on it, sanded it and rattle-can primed it and took it to a few local shops for estimates. They ranged from $1,500 to $7,000. The $1,500 was going to be for masking off the car and spraying over it however I dropped it off. The $7,000 was going to be removing all the primer and filler that I had done and starting fresh, having it come out like a new car. Even optimistically, the car would be worth under $4k after painting.
-Before starting:


I took the money I had reserved for painting and bought a 60 gallon compressor, decent set of paint guns, some 8' florescent lights for my garage, and miscellaneous supplies. I set up a frame for plastic a sheeting paint booth in may garage with some box fans for ventilation. First I practiced on scrap body panels, then I sanded down and repainted the car. The end result was better than a lot of cheap 'professional' jobs I've seen, but had a few flaws I could point out. It was a lot of work, but I leaned a lot in the process and really enjoyed it.
-Wet sanding for a partial respray to correct a run on the door:


Since then, I have done partial repaints of several other cars using the stuff I bought for that original job. I have not completely painted a Boxster yet, but I have done bumpers, a fender, frunks, and a trunk. Certainly not what most people have the time or desire to do. Anyone who wants to give it a try though, could find it fun and rewarding.
-Both bumpers, frunk and trunk repainted: