Need help with cost of painting Jeep

B

BuckeyeJeep

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Joined
Nov 19, 2021
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Location
Lancaster, Ohio
Need some thoughts on the cost to paint my Jeep. 95 Yj, currently black in color. Very, very minor body work and rust removal needed. Mainly just sanded down and painted. Located near Columbus Ohio
I got a quote from Maaco for $2100 to keep it black and about $2600 for a color change. This included body work and fixing the rust and was the "paint package" second from the top tier.
Any thoughts on their price and quality of work if anyone has used them????
My dad, who did paint and body work for 60 years, is probably rolling over in his grave that Im even considering them, but I figure Im not lookng for a showroom quality muscle car paint job.
 
Years ago I had a 68 F250 painted. Locally the enviro worshipers) wanted $5000 to do it. I stripped,prepped and took it over to the industrial wasteland of Bakersfield Ca where a Macco shop painted for $350. I asked about the cost diff and was told Bako was grandfathered in with no current regs forcing them to use the HP LV equipment and enviroMentally approved, latest greatest paint booth the coastal shops were regulated to use. Granted this was quite some time ago however it still may apply to your location. Far as the paint job went....it looked pretty damn good. Unfortunately after it was all shiny and nice I found out how crappy of a body man I am. Id say for you any stripping of parts, cleaning/sanding of hard to reach areas you can do is a bonus. I think the labor hours of prep is where the make or break it cost comes from.
 
Ditto on gilaguy. But, I have known people who have used the Maaco shop in Columbus, and the results were less than stellar to put it mildly. From what I have seen of there work, there’s no way that I would pay the prices that you mentioned. You can paint it yourself, and even save some real money if you use paint from Tractor Supply. I have seen great looking jobs with this stuff. If a location is a problem, wait for warmer weather and do it outside in the shade. I have done many great looking jobs way back when that way. We’re not talking taking it to Barrett Jackson here.
 
I appreciate the do-it-yourself suggestions, but not everyone wants to take on a such a big project and learn a new skill on their personal vehicle that they have to look at every day. I'm with gilaguy on doing as much prep work as you're comfortable with and then getting a decent shop to do the painting. Prep is a significant part of the cost, and doing it yourself ensures you're not just getting a crappy job where parts were masked off instead of removed completely.

I just went through this with my YJ. I removed the top (and all the hardware and trim), bumpers, fenders, spare tire carrier, and several pieces of riveted on diamond plate I had installed in the past. Half doors were completely disassembled (hinges, inner panels, handles). There were probably other small items, but you get the basic idea. I went to a local shop that does good, but not great work. Definitely better than Maaco in my opinion, but not a $10k show-quality job. I paid $3k. There was basically no body repair except for a small wrinkle in the hood. No rust. No small dents or dings were messed with. I did get a light coat of paint on the underside of the hood but nothing in the engine bay. Interior already had spray-in bedliner so nothing was needed there.
 
ChibbMD said:
I appreciate the do-it-yourself suggestions, but not everyone wants to take on a such a big project and learn a new skill on their personal vehicle that they have to look at every day. I'm with gilaguy on doing as much prep work as you're comfortable with and then getting a decent shop to do the painting. Prep is a significant part of the cost, and doing it yourself ensures you're not just getting a crappy job where parts were masked off instead of removed completely.

I just went through this with my YJ. I removed the top (and all the hardware and trim), bumpers, fenders, spare tire carrier, and several pieces of riveted on diamond plate I had installed in the past. Half doors were completely disassembled (hinges, inner panels, handles). There were probably other small items, but you get the basic idea. I went to a local shop that does good, but not great work. Definitely better than Maaco in my opinion, but not a $10k show-quality job. I paid $3k. There was basically no body repair except for a small wrinkle in the hood. No rust. No small dents or dings were messed with. I did get a light coat of paint on the underside of the hood but nothing in the engine bay. Interior already had spray-in bedliner so nothing was needed there.
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I hear you. But after you did all that work, just spraying the paint is the fun and easy part. I used to just spray the paint on cars that were brought to me for a case of beer. $3000? Sure wish I had of known you back then.
 
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ytradio said:
I hear you. But after you did all that work, just spraying the paint is the fun and easy part. I used to just spray the paint on cars that were brought to me for a case of beer. $3000? Sure wish I had of known you back then.
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Good point, and I hear you too. I guess it's just whatever you're comfortable with.
 
I don’t think that a lot of people really understand that if you spray your own paint and the job as far as paint application goes, doesn’t turn out to please you, the job is not ruined. All you are out is the cost of the paint that was used, and a little 600 grit, and a couple hours time. Wet sand a couple days after you paint. You can then either try again, or take it to the shop and let them rape you. Either way, it’s not my money.
 
I had MAACO paint a car of mine years ago and it looked great- for a while. Then it started to chip off and I could see how thin the paint was. IMO, I'd do what I could to save some labor/prep costs by removing everything that wasnt getting painted- trim, bezels, lights, door panels, etc. and pay a quality shop to spray your YJ. Get quotes from a couple decent shops. And remember that you will in time forget how much a good paint job cost you, but you will never forget how shitty a bad one looks.
 
YJ103 said:
I had MAACO paint a car of mine years ago and it looked great- for a while. Then it started to chip off and I could see how thin the paint was. IMO, I'd do what I could to save some labor/prep costs by removing everything that wasnt getting painted- trim, bezels, lights, door panels, etc. and pay a quality shop to spray your YJ. Get quotes from a couple decent shops. And remember that you will in time forget how much a good paint job cost you, but you will never forget how shitty a bad one looks.
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Good luck with finding a quality shop to just spray the paint on someone else’s work. Most quality guys don’t want to have their name attached to a job that they did not have complete control of. There was a place called Wheeling National in Wheeling WV that specialized in just that. The only thing that they did was spray the paint that you provided, on a car that was prepped and masked off ready to be painted. If you missed something it was on you and it got painted anyway. I remember guys getting a paint job for $169. I don’t think that they are around anymore, but as far as the paint going on it was a good job. Today $300 is about what I would say is a fair price for a paint application only job. $500 at the extreme.
 
ytradio said:
Good luck with finding a quality shop to just spray the paint on someone else’s work. Most quality guys don’t want to have their name attached to a job that they did not have complete control of. There was a place called Wheeling National in Wheeling WV that specialized in just that. The only thing that they did was spray the paint that you provided, on a car that was prepped and masked off ready to be painted. If you missed something it was on you and it got painted anyway. I remember guys getting a paint job for $169. I don’t think that they are around anymore, but as far as the paint going on it was a good job. Today $300 is about what I would say is a fair price for a paint application only job. $500 at the extreme.
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I didnt say anything about prepping the car, just removing anything you dont want painted. Theres no reason you cant take out the seats or remove the interior panels, or take out the headlights and tail lights and remove the rollbar covers, etc. At more than $100/hr labor cost, you can do that yourself. Let the body shop focus on just doing their job.
 
YJ103 said:
I didnt say anything about prepping the car, just removing anything you dont want painted. Theres no reason you cant take out the seats or remove the interior panels, or take out the headlights and tail lights and remove the rollbar covers, etc. At more than $100/hr labor cost, you can do that yourself. Let the body shop focus on just doing their job.
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Ok that’s a great idea.
 
I used Durabac coatings. Like Bed liner material. May colors to chose from and was a good product except for all the mistakes I made in using it. If you decide to go this way let me help you avoid all the errors I did.

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