Toronto - Paint job recommendations?
 

Hi, fellow club members...alas it's time to consider painting my 97 ES. The hood is in really bad shape and this weekend, a stone took a chunk of paint off my passenger side mirror...the final straw!!!

I spoke briefly with Maaco at Richmond Hill...they have their middle of the line 'presidential' paint job at half price - Cdn $499 + taxes....

I'm not willing to spend more than what my car is worth in a paint job but am very picky with my ES...

I'm desperately looking for suggestions or pointers to a reliable shop in the Richmond Hill/Markham/GTA region....?

- Sameer

mmmm...I have never used Maaco but a freind did and his car ended up have dust embedded in his paint cause of bad ventilation. Also, $499 sounds really cheap so I dunno...I just paid around that to get 2 fenders and a bumber repainted...

Don Valley Lexus is highly recommended by members on http://my.is for body work.

Thanks guys...Hameed...I doubt it if Don Valley would do my whole car for under a grand :) !! I used them for a hood job a couple of years ago and it cost me about 400 bucks I think.

I'm hoping to find a small shop that somebody in the club has used before. I agree with the comment regarding the dust and proper ventilation with Maaco...I think it's their 'fast food' approach to painting that causes the issues...don't think they take their time to wet-sand etc. something a small shop would do to get more business.....

Well good luck finding a small shop that does excellent work for less money than a place like Don Valley Lexus.

Please pm me when you find such a shop as I will need to paint my hood and bumper very soon. Thanks!

Hi Hameed...same issue here...at first I thought I'd get my hood and front bumper painted, get a touch up on the side mirror that chipped...but then when I critically look at the rest of the car...the age is starting to show...perhaps a full paint job will add new life now that I'm thinking of passing it on to my wife and looking at something new :)

I hear ya!

My car is barely driven. I don't even drive it in the winter at all. It is strictly a summer car and that too, I don't drive it everyday.

I don't really need to paint the hood, however I am replacing the OEM hood with a CF hood and need to paint that. While I am it, I want to paint the bumper and TTE lip as those two parts are chipped from stones.

The rest of the car is in excellent condition and doesn't need any painting.

$4000 for the complete car is the going rate for a base /clear paint job with $1000 of that is just for the paint on that job.
$6000 to change the colour
Anything under $1000 is not going to include any form of wetsanding and barely any sanding and no filler to smooth it out.
$1000 for a complete job is for an acrylic paint job with just basic masking .
Good luck but you get what you pay for.
$2000 is the lowest you can get a half decent job for.
Perfection is a much higher cost and that is still not show quality.

You need to take into account the hours of masking ,removing parts,sanding ,filling imperfections ,block sanding to straighten lines not an air sander,colour matched primer, flex additives ,coloured base paint , then clear followed by wet sanding to smooth edges then reinstall all the parts and polish the car again.

Macco does not do work that people do not laugh at when they see the doors and fenders not matching and huge sanding marks all over the parts.

Get a new hood and paint it and use touch up on the mirror and be done with it.

Sameer,

Here is one of the garages I used and they seemed to do a bang-up job.
Hong Kong Auto Service, 416-298-6121. Ask for Simon.
It is located at 4910 Sheppard Ave, between McCowan and Markam Rd.

- Wilson

Thanks for the advice guys...really appreciate it...totally agree with the price estimates above...unfortunatley, with the age of my car and the thoughts of moving on to something more exciting...it does not make sense to spend more than the car is worth on a new paint job...

I'll definitely try the shop recommended above! Maybe I'll just get the hood painted...will see what they say...

Just leave it to get the hood done and they will probably throw in the mirror being painted also .

Not far from my home is Geary Avenue (Dufferin/Dupont) where auto fixing-up is very competitive and places to choose from from Ossington to west of The Brick store.

Had good yet inexpensive results for patching, painting, and some undercoating three years ago. That shop is now located at 29 Primrose, 416-531-8563. With collision shops, you can see samples of their work on the spot, so a bit easier than shopping for invisible services.

With a $10 blank from eBay, looks like Pre-Lock locksmiths (800 Petrolia, 877-prelock, opp York U) say they will cut the grooves for $25 (unlike my local Ken Shaw who won't do an eBay key for any money). The blank has an Ilco blank number (LXP90-P) so might be procurable locally. BTW, any good concepts for hiding a key exteriorly... damn those smart door locks.

Never been unhappy at my local expert fix-it place, Sun Auto on Vaughan Road. Tackled all kinds of fun on a Maserati. 416-653-7006.

After an interval of 150,000 km, prolly time for a timing belt and water pump, at least by the book. Given how low the automatic tranny shifts, the engine is loafing (too) much of time (I generally lock-out 3rd in the city and overdrive on the highway unless justified). How far should I drive if I am a cheap guy, living in a cold climate, with a good water pump, and who tolerates reasonable risks?