respray frustration!

[steve bain]

everyone is so busy getting it booked in is not the problem! getting a price is...

its been about 3 months and only two guys have been over to quote (they are in the same town). One said he wouldn't paint over a respray as he doesn't know how good it is (been on for over 13 years!) and would need to be stripped back to the original paint or metal. he wanted to remove dash, engine etc. after bringing him back to my world he quoted £4k. he works out of a shed and doesn't even have an oven so that struck me as way too much. The second guy is just too busy to even work out the quote. Everyone else is too busy to even look!

I am a bit worried about what to do as i really want to get paint on it before it gets problems. my budget was £1500 and i am worried it won't be enough. another guy i rang this morning is going to drop over to look and he said his gut feeling on my description is £2500ish but needs to look at it.

Everyone is so booked up at the moment i am worried the prices are higher than normal and maybe i should wait until january or something.

anyway, feeling frustrated! vent over.

[the edmundator]

No, I'd say the figures you've been quoted are about right for a worthwhile professional job. I think you'd be wasting your money on a cheap blow-over - you may as well do it yourself unless you're going for a proper respray. Ask Ant (at Rust Republic) what he would charge as he isn't expensive. He will collect and return on transporter if you want him to do the job. He's travelled to Scotland in the past, so I don't think distance would be an issue. Most of his work is Sciroccos too, so he will care about your car and is very experienced in the nuances of Sciroccos.

[scrappy1382]

To be completely honest with you, it all comes down to the fact of what do you expect out of it. ? in other words, do you want all dents and scratches sorted,rot all cut away and new sections welded in, decent coat of primer and a damm good paint job ? or do you just want a blow over ?... then on top of that you have to expect the fact that if people are in a rush with other work they are doing, then maybe the chap just said £4k to get you to say " er, no chance am i paying that"...... total internal strip down and sanded all back to 1st ever coat or metal in my opinion is called a restoration, not a paint job. i wouldnt pay any more than £3k. but for that money, i would expect a damm good job. no orange peel or fish eye and no imperfections. i would like a proper mirror finish. but thats just me...

[Mr Funk]

You get what you pay for.

I'd rather spend a bit more and go with someone I trust knowing that the finished article will be stunning.

Have you spoken to Ant at the Rust Republic? Already been chatting to him and I'm not booked in until next October.

[steve bain]

I am finally getting somewhere with other companies! I have had a quote of £2200-2600 +vat (£2640- 3040 inc vat. vat is a killer!) based on photos. He is going to visit on sunday and decide if its the upper or lower end depending on how much prep work is required. this will be a 'mirror like, better than factory finish'. http://www.autoartdevon.co.uk/

In addition I also chatted to a chap who lives next door to where I work and he has just had his 3 series bmw painted. he had a similar amount done but also paid to have the car stripped. He paid £2k all in. The finish is very good but not mirror like. I would say on par with a new car. So going to have a chat with that guy. he's a restorer so may be better. http://www.car-cosmetics-torbay.co.uk/

So at least I am getting some ideas of prices which is better than yesterday! I am also realising that my £1.5k is not going to be enough. Oddly, my wife said to just get the first chap to do it and get the mirror finish. He's a vw nut and his workshop is stunningly clean! he can also take it in 3-4 weeks which is good.

The car is now solid and rust free as far as I am aware. I also want it to be a very good job but doesn't need to be 100% perfect so same as a new car I guess. I am thinking I need to up my budget to £2.5-3k. I never plan to sell my rocco so may as well get it done right although I will be very skint for a while!

I did think about rust republic but their in Nottingham and i'm in devon so too far really!

[james butler]

does it really need to be mirror finish?
no car ive seen including new showroom cars have been mirror finish (with rolls royce being the exception)
i would prep the car as best as you can and get it down to a local body shop to finish it off.
theres plenty of places in brum that will do a decent respray at around£1500 but you do all the prep!
they just flat back a bit then mask up and spray it.
the expence is ALL in the prep the painting is actually the cheapest part.
so at the end of the day the price depends entirely on how far you want to go with it.
worse come to worse ive seen reasonable paint jobs done with a roller and lots of flatting back and polishing (the uber expensive vw camper crews that are doing that).
if your really short on cash rattle can the car for protection then get it vinyl wrapped.
the vinyl is good for 5+ years and will hold out long enough for you to save up enough for a "proper job".