Paint it, or keep it as is?

[lincolnmatthews]

Hello, so about a year ago I screwed up and bought this (what I thought was gorgeous anyway) red 2007 GT off EBay. It supposedly had a clean car fax with only 50k miles. Well after I got it home I started to go over everything, well didn't take long to determine that it had been in a frontal collision.
They replaced both front fenders and hood with the cheaper Taiwan (I think) sheet metal. I worked several days adjusting the hood, fenders, (using proper hardware on the fenders etc) got the gaps very good. At least I was satisfied, but the real problem was the paint. The idiots started and stopped painting right at the door to fender seam! The paint doesn't match perfect and according to a body shop I took it to they said it should have blended it into the door then clear coated it. They wouldn't touch it for less than $10k.
Haven't driven it much, but it runs and drives so well! I do really like the car.
But now it's really bugging me now, as plan on driving it more thru the Winter.
I thought about maybe putting those side vinyl stripes on to break it up a bit. Even thought about buying genuine Ford fenders and having it repainted on the front, or just drive the Damn thing and enjoy it the way it is.
I paid about 15k for the car so of course I know I will never come out on this thing no matter what I do. I of course have the money to redo it but have a hard time throwing more good money after bad.
What would you guys do? Sorry for the long post, just wanted to get this off my chest, thanks. Appreciate opinions

 

[Miker]

I'm right there with you. I bought a 2005 Roush and the front drivers side fender had been replaced to to a parking lot incident. The clear is peeling on that fender. Not paying to paint that when the rest of the car is really a 10 footer. Hard to believe how much a paintjob is these days.

 

[GriffX]

it should have blended it into the door

I think if you do a color scan before, this is not necessary. If you just get a color according your color code it is a 50:50 change that it matches.

 

[Kev555]

Yes a colour scan can get a perfect paint match as I recently repaired a lightly crash damaged car for my daughter. I needed a fender and door painted and it was a perfect match in metallic red on a 7 year old car. $10,000 is absolutely crazy for a partial respray.

 

[crjackson]

The idiots started and stopped painting right at the door to fender seam!

Why didn’t you address that before installing. Really easy to correct. Especially easy with the fender off.

The paint doesn't match perfect and according to a body shop I took it to they said it should have blended it into the door then clear coated it. They wouldn't touch it for less than $10k.

There’s nothing wrong with blending really. It’s an acceptable method for typical insurance repair. It’s done this way to save money, but it’s not my first choice either. I’d much rather have matching paint, versus close enough. Contrary to what one might think, a color scan isn’t particularly accurate on 18 year old paint. It takes a little tinkering (because of UV fade, UVLS in clears were only so good back then), but it can be CLOSELY matched. Close enough to fool the human eye.

Refinishing should only cost $750-$1200ish per panel (depending on panel size, and local economy).

$10,000 is a joke in my book. That just tells me they really don’t need or want your business. Find another shop, or take it to a trade school body shop. They’ll paint it for the cost of materials usually, and you can expect a fantastic job. If they make a mistake, they’ll correct it. There’s no labor charges from these schools.

For my part, I’d probably just fix the unpainted sections on the inner fender seam (at the door edge) myself. It’s really easy.

If the color mismatch is really bad, I’d go to a proper auto-paint store and have it matched, and paint it myself. That’s for me though. If you can’t shoot paint yourself, take it somewhere else. Definitely investigate trade schools / community colleges.

 

[lincolnmatthews]

Thanks you guys, went to another shop he ball parked from $2-3k. But said his computer does the pricing and will get me a quote soon. He said he uses camera then tints to get an exact match, but did say he would blend into the door. I'm not sure now that I want the original door paint touched, as mentioned earlier.
So with an exact match would you just paint the fenders, hood and stop at the fender to door joint?
I will spend up to $3k but no more, I guess I'll find out.

 

[Juice]

Blend vs color scan, oh the classic body shop argument. (borderline scam IMO)
I've had 2 cars worked on by the shop across the street. Metallic silver is the worst color to try to match, not just the color, but air pressure can change how the color is put down.
Had my 91 worked on, has black CUSTOM paint with faint metal flake.
Those guys nailed it on both, NO blending adjacent panels.
While not the same as basic body repair, if any of you watch any car show like Counting Cars, etc, those guys have no issues matching any color.

Those who can't match, blend.
Considered wrapping the car??

 

[DieHarder]

One of the things I learned from a guy that's been doing body/paint for 30 years is you have to use the original primer color as well as OEM paint. The reason being so many of the modern paints are semi-transparent so the primer underneath affects the tint of the top color. G2/Red Metallic is one of the most difficult to match IMO but the guy I go to had no problem so obviously I only take my car to him for repairs/touch ups.

 

[MrBhp]

Refinishing should only cost $750-$1200ish per panel (depending on panel size, and local economy).

Driver side is 3 panels. Passenger side is 3 panels. Plus hood, plus roof, plus deck lid. That's nine panels. So that's in the ballpark of 10k. Shops that price a full car spray according to how many panels the car has are just silly. That shop didn't want your business. They are probably an insurance company "preferred" shop. They are too busy with insurance work. The work they constantly complain about. Insurance work doesn't pay well. But it's what the shop prefers. It makes no sense, but that's what the majority of shops do.

 

[JC SSP]

Paint and body is an art… done correctly the car will look spectacular. Done poorly and it will look like a turd.

Unfortunately, in my area most shops charge $8-10k for a full paint job and most don’t even come close to a factory finish.

I don’t know anything about paint and body work so I have to trust my local body shop guy which he just retired after 40 years and guy who bought the business is a clown! So my search continues since you should alway have a shop on speed dial. Lol

 

[GriffX]

I just do spot repairs on my own vehicles, but I would not blend. It is sanding an untouched door. I would rather do the damaged body parts several times until I like it. Worst in my case was a black metallic with blue metal flakes with special colored primer. I did it 3 times.

 

[flash_xx]

Jesus, 10k to blend paint? I love living in the Dominican Rep. Going to get my whole car repainted for about 1800 US. PPG paint at a pro shop with state of the art paint booth, not some backyard job. It's a 2007 GT I've owned since new. Torch Red. No wonder insurance companies write off cars for a fender in the US.

 

[MrBhp]

I assumed it was 10k for a full respray. Still ridiculous money.

 

[crjackson]

I assumed it was 10k for a full respray.

I noticed.

I wasn’t talking about a full paint job priced by panels. I agree, that’s just stupid. I already said, they probably just didn’t want the job.

I thought he needed 2 fenders and a hood. $10k would be really stupid.

 

[brasil]

back in the days... 1990 -92 ..there was a paint shop /chain in CA called Earl Scheib. Full paint job from 99.99 up... the older ones here will remember these Earl Scheib paint jobs.

But 10 K for a paint job ... is robbery .

 

[crjackson]

Thanks you guys, went to another shop he ball parked from $2-3k.

Right on target as stated above. Show us pics when done!

 

[MrBhp]

back in the days... 1990 -92 ..there was a paint shop /chain in CA called Earl Scheib. Full paint job from 99.99 up... the older ones here will remember these Earl Scheib paint jobs.

But 10 K for a paint job ... is robbery .

I remember Earl Sheib! "I'll paint any cah any color fah 99.99". I swear it seemed like he had a New Jersey accent. But he was from California. It was an awful paint job. We had one. I think. Maybe it was Maaco. They were both equally bad. They sprayed our '84 suburban. The paint pretty much fell off the vehicle in sheets. But it was cheap. And that's all we could afford. At least there was none of that pesky primer between their re-spray and the original paint.

 

[Juice]

My parents had 2 cars Shiebed. $69.99 any car any color. Was not a bad paint job, IF YOU sanded/prepped it and didnt mind overspray. lol They literally JUST painted the car. Mimimal masking, roll windows down, paint.

On the blend thing. This IMO is the perfect example of corporate greed. Time is money. Paintmatch takes time that really does not produce revenue. But the extra work and materials needed to blend does make money. Sold under the guise of "higher quality work". The truth is, its faster to blend adjacent panels, it makes more money both labor and materials. So, do the math. Lmao

 

[lincolnmatthews]

Wow got the quote already (he must work on Saturdays) anyway with tax it was about $3250 it looks like he is going to blend into the doors. After reading you guy's comments I don't want my doors scuffed then blended.
I'll go and talk to him on Monday and see if he will only paint To the door and guarantee a perfect match, he probably won't do this.

 

[crjackson]

He’ll paint to the doors, but won’t guarantee a perfect match. He can’t. Just get him to do a spray out panel of the color, and see if it’s an acceptable match for you.