AaronStaub

iTrader: (1)

I know there are some folks with older GS-es that have some experience with repainting. Can anyone give me some rough guesses as to what I should expect to spend in turning my champagne-colored GS a nice gloss black? Looking for something between MAACO and magazine-show-car.

edit- i would like to change all door sills, trunk/hood inners, etc...

gs300cky

from what i was quoted is about 3-5G's

dario

Is it worth spending 3-5K dollars on painting a 16 year old car?????

brokendori

Wow thats alot ! Best bet is to find someone with skill that will let you buy paint and pay him seperate, usually cheaper, make sure the prep work is all done right though !

AaronStaub

iTrader: (1)

Depends. Its not investment, that's for sure. But if it is the difference in selling the car in a year or keeping it for another ten, I need to consider it.

dario

I have a 1993 GS300 and I just had to spend like $400 on valve cover gaskets and fuel injector and that was almost too much to put into like 17 year old car that might die any day.

AaronStaub

iTrader: (1)

That's a difference in cars tho. Our cars might be the same age, but mine is a GTE swap with new brakes, new ball joints, new springs and shocks/struts, new wheels and tires, etc. There are no concerns that this car is going to die, just a question of whether its reasonable to make the outside match the inside.

TheKevin

iTrader: (6)

since you're planning to keep her for another 10 yrs, i think it's worth it for a decent paint job. i'm in the same boat as you because i want to paint my silver spruce SC, black as well. the only problem with painting a non black car to black, is that you're going to have to spend the $$ for a decent job. cant go cheap. since i dont have $3K to spend on a paint job, i'm thinking of going with a $1k silver or med grey job. it wont be the best but it'll def look good for another 5-7 years.

AaronStaub

iTrader: (1)

well the keeping it for a long period of time is really dependent on whether i could get a reasonable price on a color change. if i could get the money out of it that i have into in next year, i could get real interested in an E36 M3 sedan.

gs300cky

im thinkin the same thing. i have a 95 gs with 120xxx but she runs great now that i dumped in 3k in parts i figure she still has another 150xxx miles left so im deciding to keep it and paint it.
how many miles do you have aaron?

AaronStaub

iTrader: (1)

241k on body. about 85k on front clip. Interior has been re-upholstered and is near new.

ranger2339

Maybe look at buying a black GS with a bad engine or whatnot, that is black already, and swap everything over?? Sounds like allot of work, but could be done and be allot easier on the wallet.

Since your down south, seems like you could find allot of deals on a rust free chassis.

I picked up my black GS for 2k, because it needed a new alt. Has some rust here and there, but not to bad.

Josh

mkiiisupra

Sounds like you should have looked for a old pick up or a geo metro instead of a Lexus. 400$ isnt bad as a total cost of repairing something broken. In your case for those 2 things, maybe it is, thats why you learn to do it yourself and save A LOT and learn A LOT. If you dont know how to fix what ever it is that needs fixing, thats what these forums and reading is for. There are plenty of people that car tell you what needs to be done.

I have about 10-15 small dings and both rear quarter panels need reworked, and a factory color respray (not doing jambs) I was quoted around 8 grand (they dont do resprays only repairs so it was priced by the hour of each dent/ding), but this was from a higher priced, excellent body shop. Why not paint it? Who cares about if you're going to sell it down the line or not. The 1gs isn't going to sell for much anyways and I think repainting to help it sell is just a waste since you'll be spending more to paint it then the difference it will make in the total price. If you still own it, still like the car, and the paints bugging you that bad, why not just paint it and if you dont sell it...you have a nice fresh looking paint job and if you do, money lost but the car will sell faster and for a little more.

ranger2339

For 8k you could buy a real nice GS..

link13

I was at this point with mine. It needed paint and upholstery work. I had just finished everything it needed mechanically and it's good for another 60K miles before it will need service. I was looking at '04/05 LS430 ULs last summer, but I ultimately decided I would rather keep my GS and have a one of a kind, modified car. It's painted and the seats were reupholstered. Now, I really like the car. I couldn't get my money back if I were to sell it, but that's not why I went through it to begin with. Also, I am not sending $500-$600 to a bank each month just to have a car to drive.

I am not GTE swapped. The car is just clean, I've had it for 7 years, and I know its history. I would not be able to find one comparable to it.