cost to paint?

[waverlycruiser]

Hi all, newbie here with a quick question. I have a 01 Cruiser that is painted cranberry. I bought it salvage title and got a great deal on it. Its not the manliest color but I've always wanted one, and am too old to care what people think about the color of my car. My problem is my son is starting to drive this car, and at 16 he definitely worries about those things. I'm thinking about have it repainted black. How much could I expect to pay? It doesn't need any body work, just a manlier paint job.
Thanks, waverly

[Candyman]

Hey their waverly,

Welcome to the Forum!

To be honest, a total respray is going to be a bit costly. The reason being, when you change colors on a vehicle,, and do it correctly, you have to take into count re-painting inside the door jambs, under the hood, and inside the trunk jamb in order to match the new exterior. This normally requires the majority of the interior, glass, and exterior of the car to be disassembled. The doors, trunk, and hood need to come off, and the car pretty much to bare bones to gain access to paint everything. Its a big job which unfortunately comes with a pretty healthy price tag to do a good job.

Another factor that adds cost is, the Federal EPA has mandated all Body Shops in the US had to switch over from Solvent Base Paint to a new Water Borne Based Paint which has lower air borne emissions making it safer for the Environment, but more costly to the Consumer. Both the Base Coat of Acrylic Enamel, the Clear Coat of Acrylic Urethane, as well as all Primers, and related materials are all required to be Water Borne now, and unfortunately all add to the overall cost.

So, at the Body and Paint Shop where I work as the Lead Painter, if I were to repaint your PT you would be looking somewhere in the neighborhood of around $3500.00, and about 6 - 8 weeks time minimum to do.

Another Option you can do would be to just have the exterior painted and leave all the door jambs, under hood, and trunk jamb in Cranberry which will save you a little, but will look kind of funny as the car will be slightly mismatched.

Or, a third option would be to try to find a cheap Paint Shop like One Day Paint and Body, or Maaco, and opt for a cheap $500.00 Paint Job which again will most likely be just the outside, and since they go with cheaper Paint, you will most likely either have issues like Paint Flaking off, or other related problems with in a year or so, but it is considerably cheaper than having it done correctly at a good professional Body Shop.

Of course as a Painter, I would highly recommend the first option, though it is the most expensive, it should be backed by a Warranty so if you ever have problems, the Shop should take care of it, and you should get a nice professional paint job with no flaws, or other issues which you may likely get from doing it any other way.

One last thing you could do if it comes down to really wanting to get rid of the Cranberry Color, but do not have a budget to get it painted professionally, you could opt to buy several cans of spray Primer, sand the paint down and primer the entire vehicle. This will only run $150.00 - $200.00, and if you can find a local Paint Supply Store, you can get Primer in many different colors including the new fad of going to the old school look of Hot Rod Flat Black Primer which is all the rage right now, and will cost you around $15 per can custom mixed. This never requires any maintenance other than occasional touch ups to keep looking pretty good overall. Their are a few PT's who are going this route as a cheap alternative, and then mounting some old school smoothie wheels, or getting old metal stock wheels and painting them red with white walls to complete the more Rat Rod look which tends to fit with the lines on the PT.

So hopefully that might give you a few different directions to go with. If you have any more questions or anything, please feel free to ask anytime, and I will be more than happy to try to help wherever I can.

Go easy, and I will catch you later.

Candyman

[waverly cruiser]

Candyman, First let me apologize for taking so long to post back, I've been tied up with some long hours at work. I appreciate your advice and input, Its pretty obvious that painting my car is out. If it cost me that much, that's about what its worth with a salvage title. I guess the best option would be to try to sell it, and buy another "cooler" car. Thanks again for taking the time to explain my options.
God Bless,
Waverly