Need a decent paint job on my wife's car.. HELP!!!!?

Question

I live in Houston, TX, closer to the Sugar Land area.

My wife has a 2002 Mitsubishi Galant GTZ, black. The paint job is in horrible condition, the clear coat is gone and now there is light surface rust on the roof and starting on the rear pillars.

Any reccomendations on where to go to get a decent paint job at a decent price in Houston, closer to the Sugar Land area is preferable.

MAACO quoted me $1500 without even removing any trim. I felt that price was way too high, considering all they would do is mask over and not even remove a SINGLE piece of trim!

HELP PLEASE

Answer 1

go to a real body shop
MMAACO is not quality work

Answer 2

MAACO uses single stage paint which is basically both the base and clear mixed into one and applied congruently. They DON'T take anything off the vehicle so you will have color on the moldings and trim pieces. In California a GOOD (lifetime warranty) complete paint job starts about $4500 and goes up depending on how much additional work needs to be done to remove the rust. The labor is extensive to do the job properly and to prevent future peeling of the clear coat. The ENTIRE vehicle must be sanded and a GOOD primer must be applied by qualified technicians who know what they are doing. EVERYTHING is in the prep process. Everyone thinks this is the 80's and paint is cheap but it isn't. Paint and material cost for a complete can easily run $750.00 and up. Then you add the labor to prep and paint and remove components and repair prior damage. It adds up quickly. I manage a Collision Repair Facility and we start at $5k and go up from there. Good luck and remember you get what you pay for. You can look in your area for a SMALL shop that may do the work for a lot less than a production facility. Everything depends on where you live.

Answer 3

Sorry but a good quality job usually runs 40-60 hours of labor to remove trim, repair dents and rust and do the painting so depending on the labor rate in your area, it could run 2000.00 or more. Example...Labor rate of 40.00 per hour is used to determine labor price and materials are usually half of the painting labor.
Body trim removal 16 hours X 40.00 = 560.00
Rust and dent repair 6 hours X 40.00 = 240.00
Paint labor 30 hours X 40.00 = 1200.00
Paint materials 30 X 20.00 = 600.00
Total cost 2600.00
Some shops will do a quickie cheap job with single stage paint instead of the better but more time consuming base coat/clear coat two stage paint....those shops like Earl Scheib or Maaco just tape off everything (and not very well) and scuff sand the car, shoot the paint and bake it quick. Some offer services above that like body work but are usually not the best quality. Not worth the price if you want a good result and have some value in the car when it's done nor does single stage paint look as good or last as long as Base/clear coat paint from the factory.
Best to get several estimates from good shops ---here's a link to an auto body news site with a shop finder feature....
http://www.autobodyonline.com/
Maybe check around at some shops or advertise on Craigslist.org for a painter to do your car as a side job which some do and can save you some money. Just make real sure they do quality work, ask for references and check them out...may not have any guarantee. I had a few real good, ambitious techs in my shop that did lots of side work to pay for their toys and supplement their incomes.

Answer 4

You need to contact local independent shop for good job at fair price. My daughter has 97 galant that did same thing.Major chains are into quick turnover at high profits and dont normally stand behind work very well. It cost me $900 for good job but everything is cheaper in KY