shroomysou

I have a brown '98 LS400 and people keep calling it a grandpa car. I have to agree. It's not the best looking color. I really wanted it in black or white, but when I found one close to my house I had to get it. I want to change the color from brown to white. Is MAACO a decent choice? How much does it usually cost?

dicer

If you wish to ruin the value in the car then paint it. The real only way to change the color is buy one the correct color. And brown is one of the more desirable colors. And no matter what color it is it is always going to be a grand pa car, that is just what an LS400 is. If you want a kids car go look for one LS's are not.

Rdrcr

I'd love to have that brown/beige color (especially with the gold-package). Furthermore, I love driving a Grandpa car...keeps me under the radar and out of trouble!

Regarding the color change and re-spray; to do it right, it is expensive and could potentially hurt the future value. In addition, if you care about the appearance of the finished product, you don't want to do it on a budget.

Mike

scunyon

It's your car so do what you want to. That being said, I wouldn't take it to Maaco. A reputable body shop that fixes cars will probably have a better quality paint or at least painter(s). The issue you're going to have is they usually just paint what they repair, not whole cars.

I would ask them if they could recommend someone that you could at least talk to and find out if you want to invest that much in a respray.

You could always do a vinyl wrap...

Don Nguyen

If you want a permanent color change, then paint is probably your best option. If you want something that's temporary (4-5 years), then vinyl wrap would be a strong possible option.

CELSI0R

Don't mind what other people say about "grandpa's cars." People who classify cars as such are really missing out on what those cars have to offer, as I'm sure you know. It's also funny how people base things off of paint color, despite the fact that a car can be exactly the same as other models.

The paint is best kept the way it came out of the factory; you'll never get anything higher quality. But, you still have the choice to change it, if it really bothers you.

In terms of cost, if you want a good quality job, it can cost you a few thousand in paint. Maaco is not a strong choice, unless you know the shop's reputation. They will paint over everything on the car, including dirt, so all of the prep work will have to be done by you. If it's not done properly, you can get peeling, among other problems.

P.S. The brown color has a very nice and rich texture to it, and it makes the car more unique than every other white or black car on the road.

01LEXPL

iTrader: (10)

What "value" is everyone referring to? Any '00 and below I've seen to date is a sub-5000$ car...

...that demographic is the least likely to show up [with response to your Craigslist ad] with a paint gauge to measure paint depth.

Honestly, Maaco has a ****ty rep. Period. HOWEVER, there are [like everything in life] hidden gems. There was one local shop in my small city that had a few good guys working there. They were skilled painters and made some 2000$ jobs look mediocre in comparison... Yes, even "expensive" paintwork has to be done by a human and prepped properly.

Now, OP, if you're WILLING to put in some honest prep work - not hard, just tedious and time consuming, the Maaco way is not a bad option... or any cheap shop.

Hell, people on here have garage-painted their vehicles, if you're feeling up to it!

Good luck.

KJG92

It's not going to be cheap but anything worth doing is worth doing right. The prep is the most important part. Any dents, dings or deep scratches? Can you fix them yourself? I've seen a few Maaco jobs that were not to bad. The best I can tell you is go talk to some shops, look at the cars the finished in the shop and tell them your expectations and go from there. Post up a picture of this brown color.

shroomysou

Thanks! I'm going to see how much the vinyl wrap is going to cost. That seems like a good idea. I don't think I will still have the car after 4 years.


I don't think the value will go that much lower if I sold it with a different color. It's almost 20 years old and the value is already very low.

dicer

You can sell anything to anyone that has limited knowledge of cars. Just remember this, what ever you spend on a repaint, unless the old paint was pealing off, would be a total loss of cash. Especially if the paint color does not match the paint code. And yes you can get a top quality paint job, the cost of them starts at $8000 and goes up. To do a proper repaint would require a total strip down to the body shell and a good media cleaning and to start from scratch. And you would want some top painter slash body person doing it, like Charley Hutton.
If its just a junker then go to Maaco some of them can do good work. But any car guy that knows anything will spot a color change a mile away, well you know what I mean. If you don't go the expensive tear the car apart route you will not be happy with the paint job. Just buy some spray cans and let some kids paint it.
Or sell it to someone that loves the color it is and buy what you want, in the end that is the cheap route, other than the kids with spray cans.

98 and value is low? A dealer here had one priced at 10,000 or so awhile back.
Gosh wasn't it a 1991 that sold on ebay for 9,000? And that would not happen with a repaint, and especially with a color change.

CELSI0R

Vinyl sounds like a much better idea for you, then.

Besides, when the sale comes along you can maximize your return on investment by not spending a lot on paint!

KJG92

I had a quote to wrap the '71 VW Westfalia van we had and it was $2500.

shroomysou

I just got a quote for $4000 minimum. LOL. That's almost the price of the car from when I bought it. Looks like I'm keeping it brown.

Aron9000

Why did you buy it if you hated the color???

If the paint is in good condition, it would be a tragedy to repaint it. Its only original once, and Lexus did a fantastic job on the paint with these cars. Its not a junky 1998 Chevy Lumina or Honda Accord where the paint falls off it after 5-6 years.

PureDrifter

iTrader: (10)

Paint isn't cheap. Either settle for a crap quality repaint, or spend ~800-1800 on a temporary vinyl/dip job.

I'd just leave it brown.