My 05 Monte has a ton of deep scratches from the previous owner on it. Worse, it's a black car so it all shows and I can't take it anymore. What's the best place to get a completely new, quality paint job (staying with the black color, so I won't need to redo anything but the exterior paint), that won't cost me an arm and a leg?

Maaco is out of the question unless I hear some outstanding testimonials on them.

Thanks!

 

It's the prep work that is time consuming and adds to all of the costs.

If you want it done right, it's not going to be cheap.

 

X2... when I got quotes on mine, they ranged from 3-5 grand for the same color.

 

Look at some local shops. Make sure that they are clean and organized. Look at some of the cars they've finished. Find out what kind of guarantee they have. A lot of places will guarantee their finishes for as long as the original owner has the car. Prices will probably vary widely and cheapest is not the best (nor is most expensive). Make sure the shop has been around a long time - that would indicate that they do quality work and that they'll be around in the future if you do have issues. Get written estimates and completion dates too. Don't be afraid to check out the Dealer too (Chevrolet). I had a camaro painted at the dealer for a very reasonable cost and the quality was outstanding.

 

i would say to try spending a weekend compounding and buffing the paint before you try to get it painted. it's alot of work, but it can really work wonders.

for example, our old '96 Z34 looked horrible after years of neglect, a cheapo respray, followed by 5+ years setting in a feild, nothing but scratches & very dull.

after washing it, me and my dad hand buffed turtle wax's red compound, followed by the white compound, followed by a polish with 3M's liquid ebony (found in paint supply shops), followed FINALLY by 2 coats of wax. the differance was AMAZING to say the least, although unfortinitly it was hindered by the tons of orange peel and fisheyes in the crap repaint it had been "treated" to...

anyway, for your viewing pleasure 2 before and 2 after pics, made quite a differance!

remember, almost all scratches that arnt through the clear coat can be buffed out with enough elbow greese

 

Deff the prep is what costs the money paint is cheap compared to labor, u got black so its even cheaper 8555 Black with a good Dupont clear will cost about $1000 for a gallon of each with activators & hardners, now double that & ull be close to what itll cost to have it done, deff look for established shops to do it, u cant goto a cheap shop & expect a good job, im getting ready go repaint mine for the 3rd time soon

 

Thanks guys. I know it's not going to be cheap; I was also looking to get a sort of estimate on how much the average paint job costs. 5 grand seems a lot, especially for black, 3-3.5k was what I was expecting. But of course, if it's quality, I'll pay whatever. I detail my car a lot, but I never tried compounding and all of that other stuff all at once... will have to see how that goes. The old owner really messed up the paint though, there are a lot of deep, deep scratches on there.

But again, thanks everyone for the input!

 

Well, mine isn't black (which is why it's 5), but this shop goes over the top w/ detail. I mean, when it's done it looks better than new. So you really get what you pay for with these guys. Which is the standard with any paint job. The cheaper the cost, the cheaper the job.