i am looking to get decent paint job done on a car but don't really want to spend more than $2k on a car thats old with tons of miles...Let me know if you guys recommend a certain shop or has experience in philly area.

 

no such thing as a cheap paint job that is good end of story, you can def get something decent for 2gs just not good.

 

A "good" paint job should cost between 6-12k

 

Agreed i am looking for decent paint job that's not horrible like maaco...Let me know if there are places in this area that you guys recommend.

 

The Only way you can accomplish this is if you can pep the car yourself.

 

Just a question, you own a new ISF, why would you want to paint it? Honestly, if you have a budget.... wrap > paint.

 

Problem is the materials alone, primer, sealer,paint,clear, activators, reducers and hardeners for a complete repaint are just about 2 grand for quality materials. You left nothing for the labor or sandpaper and other materials needed to get the vehicle ready for the repaint. .

 

This fellow knows what he is talking about. Ill give you some examples of prices of things that I have used where I worked.
gallon of clear $275
gallon of hardener $350
gallon of reducer $100
Now keep in mind all this is top shelf shtuff......
In comparison a gallon of cheap clear is $60.....


So what exactly are you looking to get done??
All-over paint-job, or damage repair ?

 

No body damage maybe a ding or two.

 

there are good paints out there for way less then that, i know because i paint and painted my cars/bikes and other peoples cars with one product i preffer. We did a full kandy job on my sc for under 700 in total paint materials, including
gallon of metallic, gallon of kandy,gallon of clear,gallon of epoxy primer. Sand paper, body filler, tape...etc is another story i say we got it all done for about a grand in materials and about 2 weeks worth of work broken up of course so it took over a month total to finish. Just painted a 92 si civic for a friend and this thing was rough, 800 in materials including evercoat slicksand and metal putty. Overall the project turned out great black pearl was the color, we just finished it last week, started on it about a month ago. I had to cut out some qtr panel rust by the rear wheel wells and reweld and reshape new metal.
What i'm trying to get at is materials arent usually the problem...its just soooo much work to do an overall paint job correctly.Unless you got a illigal helper thats going to do all the prep and tape work for less then $200 its not doable.

 

depends on the shop. most shops will not warranty their work if you do the prep work.

 

I owned a do it your self paint shop, spray booth rental in conjunction with another business I had. Just to rent the booth for a full day was $300.00 and you brought your own materials. There is a difference in low end, and high end materials, the old saying is you get what you pay for is true in many aspects of life. Same with quality of painters, some say they know what they are doing and others can really do it. I saw them all, the good, the bad and the ugly. Oh yea, you can not tell by looking at them either. Some of the grubbiest guys were outstanding in what they do do with a spray gun.

 

2k and decent paint job should never belong in the same sentence. Let me put it this way.

5 years ago i got my nissan 300zx repainted MB silver. 3 years down the road the car developed more rust in different areas i ended up just selling my pride and joy.

and for the record, the rust developed after about a year year and a half and i went back to the body shop to A) get a full respray or B) knock the owners teeth out.... needless to say they went out of buisness before i could get to him

Feel bad for the owner of the Hennessy Dodge viper he was repraying, that dude must be pisssseeeddddd

 

you can get that price, if your friend does body work.. lol

 

Another option to try and save money may be to contact the local community college and see if they have a auto body class. I had many guys have me strip their vehicle and then took it to the class for repaint. I owned a stripping business that many used to save money on the hot rods and street cars needing repainting. Or try the high school to see if they need a project car to work on. You may or may not get the desired results your hoping to get, but it would be inexpensive as you normally only pay costs on the materials.