I’ve seen posts that have addressed approximate cost for having ones car painted. And, I’ve noticed some disparity in answers – ranging from 500 too 7,000. A great deal of that vast difference I will presume is “quality” of work. But I venture some difference lies in “where” one is getting the job done. I.e., the cost of living in Pascagoula, Mississippi is less than that of San Diego, California. BUT, I’m thinking that the cost for the raw materials – PAINT, PRIMERES, ETC – should be about the same as all suppliers are buying from a general source. Am I wrong? I ask as I have been told by three estimators regarding my Chevelle’s paint job that the materials alone will run me 900.00. Is this fair and reasonable as I am looking to put a PPG high grade B/C? I’m looking hard to find a distributor that sells direct (avoid a middleman cost). Then, I can go back to my painter and point to his estimate sheet and say "subtract out the 900…I’ll provide the materials." What do you (the pros) have to say about this approach and the cost of materials?

Lee,
When I painted my 85 Blazer about 6 years ago, the materials cost me over $700 That included everything from sandpaper to strip the car on up to the basecoat clearcoat Dupont paint. I am sure the cost has gone up.
Now as a businessman...I have to ask you, why would you expect any respectable business to use your materials ?? Sort of like bringing your own steak to the restaraunt and asking them to cook it ! If the paint you supply decides to peel off after a year, are you going to expect the painter to repair it for free ??? Service businesses have to make a profit on parts along with the labor in order to stay in business. The parts profit helps pay the bills, but it also helps pay for any warranty repairs that might arise.
I think you are asking for a lousy relationship with your body shop if you want to supply your own supplies. Pay the price and let them do thier job.
Just my opinion,

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Bill Koustenis
Advanced Automotive Machine
Waldorf Md

1971 Heavy Chevy - original owner
Team Chevelle #100

I agree with Bill on this one. It may actually work out in your favor, because commonly used primers and supplies will already be on the shelf, and you may not have to pay for full gallons of paint if they arent needed. Also the shop will most likely be able to buy your specific materials cheaper than you can. I cant believe any real pro shop would use your materials, just like pro shops normally wont paint over someone elses bodywork and primer either. Sure Maaco will do it, but not a high end shop.

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Dave (NY)
70 chevelle ss396 conv
66 chevelle ss396 hdp/conv
72 chevelle
TC member #493
Never forget Earnhardt!

One local PPG supplier said I should be able to paint my car with BC/CC for between $300 to $500 on materials. But I agree, prices do seem to vary a great deal depending on who you talk to and where they live.

Bill is right on this one. If you are going to have a shop do the work (and stand behind it ) you should not take "your steak" to them for cooking. If you want to do this yourself, then shop around and do the best you can.

Bill;

My intent on the post was to get an idea if 900 was in the ballpark or not…evidently it’s not off the mark in the least bit. As far as bringing my own steak to the restaurant – I was basically trying to avoid paying $60.00 for a filet mignon, when I could have bought one from ACME for $10.00 and still enjoyed the taste (don’t need the ambiance thing) and still had change left for the kids college fund. However, enough of the steak/restaurant analogy (although I have to admit - very effective). Bill, I also see your point on the paint guarantee being an issue. One point that was made during the sales pitching of the various painters was that PPG guarantees the paint for the life time of the car providing it is applied by certified members, in certain environments, etc. BUT, regardless, sounds like 900 is realistic. Although, its very hard to look at a small cardboard box with about 6 or 7 pint cans of “stuff” and think its contents could be worth 900…OK, I’m being cheap minded, but good Lord, my sales sticker for 68 shows it was only 2300 for the entire car! http://www.chevelles.com/forum/eek.gif As always Bill thanks for the great response.

$900 is about right for materials down here in "San Diego". Don't know what it would be in Mississippi http://www.chevelles.com/forum/biggrin.gif I agree with the others about not even asking the painter to use your materials. By the way depending on how the car is stripped (you could probably do this yourself and save $$$), if the car is completely disassembled, amount of sheetmetal to be replaced or repaired and exactly the quality of work expected, you can easily spend more than $7000.

And red base colors cost more than others. Two years ago, one gallon of red base cost me exactly $300. And I'm sure the price has gone up since then. Now you could do a cheap job in enamel with no hardener and basic primer for much less than $900. I paid close to $600 two years ago for BASF base color (5 qt), 1 gal clear, hardener for the clear, and thinners. I'm sure I had over $300 in epoxy and regular primer, hardener, and thinner for that. Then add fillers, paper, tape, etc. Sad but true, it's damned expensive.

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von '69 300 Dlx SS TC #15 ACES #1575
My '69 SS (http://sites.netscape.net/von69ss/homepage)

About 4 years ago I painted one of my own cars at my shop. Not being a body shop we had no supplies to start with so I had to buy everything necessary to do the job as far as materials go.
We removed the trunk, doors, hood, bumpers, lights and all the trim. The entire car was stripped to bare metal, minor body work was necessary and we removed the rear window for rust repair. You also need to know that this 1970 car had been religiously garaged kept for 27 years since it was purchased new. I bought it from the original owner who was 87 years old at the time of the sale. It was just about the nicest car you could find for ease of preparing for nice paint job.
We stripped the car, did all the body work, disassembled it, primed it and blocked it 3 times, sealed it, put on the base coat, taped and striped it, put on 3 coats of clear, cut and buffed it, and re assembled it. We spent 100 hours shop time on the job from start to finish. You can multiply that by any shop rate you want to get a labor bill.
My bill at the paint shop for was close to $1500. That was for everything that I had to buy to do the job. Paint stripper, scrappers, razer blades, cleaning solvents, thinners, bondo, epoxy patch, metal prep, wax and grease remover, tack rags, tape, masking paper, quality base coat, quality clear coat, reducers, hardeners, lots and lots of sand paper, buffing compounds, buffing pads and a couple of sanding blocks that I really liked.
Painting is not my business but I have painted cars before so I had sanders, grinders, buffers, respirators, paint guns, regulators, and other necessary equipment to do the job.
I hope this helps understand why some paint jobs cost a lot more than you might think.

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Jim
680HP Fuel injected, turbo charged 1969 SS396 El Camino
http://www.messlerproducts.com

I just spent $865 w/discount for 1 1/2 gallons of dupont red & base maker and 4700 clear, reducer and actavator!!!!!

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My cars (http://www.geocities.com/gdwrench64/carphotopg1.html)

most shops make no mark-up on paint anymore, it's that out of hand ...... if the shop supplies the material, and there's a defect, they will be liable to repair it....... do you want this responsibility for the sake of a 100 bucks, or so ??

All I have to say is that I am shure glad I don't buy my paint supplies where some of you shop.

Ken can you elaborate? I.e., do you get your paints cheaper? More expensive? Prettier cans ? And, are you buying paint lines such as the Duponts, PPGs, etc? I’d love to hear from you if you have any insight.

15 years ago paint cost less than $30.00 a gallon until the EPA made such a big stink about the enviorment. Red and the paints that change colors are the most expensive. A Base coat clear coat paint supplies should run between $300.00 and $600.00 from a paint supplier. You can buy the paint mail order much cheaper. I use to buy my paint from the Pomona swap meet, recently I paid $50.00 a gallon for PPG Delstar Porsche red Enamel and $30.00 for the hardner. The guy who sold the paint was buying by the 55 gallon barrel as fleet paint and then putting it in 1 gallon cans, they did not have every color but he did have a good selection. Black, white, teal green and silver was $30.00 a gallon, Porsche red and Corvette yellow was $50.00 a gallon. I have used this paint on a few cars with excellent results, I prepped the cars and paid $100.00 to have the cars sprayed at a body shop.