Well I finally pulled the trigger and decided to strip the Jag down and give her a fresh dress.

The issues although minor were: Faded clearcoat on the roof, the banged up bumpers, and a small dent in the left rear quarter panel. Aside from those minor issues the car was really straight but the 11 year old paint job was showing its age.

After getting quotes of $1500.00 to repair just the items listed above, I decided that maybe a refinish would be the ticket. However quotes for that ranged from $2200.00 to $4000.00 and that did not include removal of all trim! If I wanted that done the upcharge was another $500.00

Not wanting to sink that much cash into the car, I decided to tackle everything except spraying the paint myself. At the end of the day I've spent $948.00 and have a superb job!

I did the trim and bumper removal in about 8 hours and then spent about another 20 hours wet sanding the car. Once the car was sanded and ready to spray, I dragged it and all the loose parts to Macco. For $848.00 total Macco shot the car with primer/sealer then basecoat clearcoat in the factory color. Since I saved them the work of scuffing the car I talked them into laying down an extra coat of clear so I could wetsand and buff without fear.

I brought her home yesterday and started the sand/buff process and can say that I'm thrilled with the results!

I'll get pics going soon.

Ken

 

Looking forward to seeing your pics....Gotta do this myself, and like you I'll be doing the prep work....

 

I sure hope it works out for ya in the long term. Macco uses very poor quality paint. Just the paint for my TVR paint job cost nearly as much as your entire job and it wasn't anything special, just a standard dupont system. The amount needed for a Jaguar in red would have exceeded what you paid for the whole job! Not saying that you didn't get a decent sprayer doing the work in the least as I've a number of very nice Macco jobs but have never seen a great Macco job 2 years later. Hope yours will be the first!

You were right to remove everything yourself as that tends to be a huge part of the cost for most vehicles. I did the same thing but wasn't willing to allow for any issues with warranty so I opted for the shop to do all the prep work (totalled out to about 200 hours all said and done. Ended up paying around $3000 or so for it as they also did a couple other things while it was in. It was exactly what I wanted a very solid drivers job which is built to last 15-20 years. Definately not a judging show finish but then I wouldn't want to drive it.

Good luck with it. Post up some pics when you get to it.

 

Yep, that's exactly why I went this route. Having done "show quality" finishes in my previous career I started off at the PPG dealer myself. For a standard base/clear job (materials only) I was looking at about $600.00

 

Thanks for the kind words......Nothing like a kick in the teeth while I've got a big grin over my new paint. I guess you are right and maybe I should have spent $3000.00 to paint a car worth $6000.00 at best in todays market. I can't believe I was so stupid...

 

Hey, there's always the $50 paint job!....tons of videos on youtube on this. Just get your paint, your paint tray and favorite roller and have at it..... then you can get with the wet sand....compound....wax and Viola!....your there!

 

Sinister:
I KNEW when I saw your post that you would get that response. With the $3000. paint job, your car might very well bring $6K on a good day! The same mentality buys transmissions and ecus from the gealer, and has the oil changed there too! Now, I would not bet on the paint looking good in 5 years, but a daily driver that is 15 years old will be worn out anyway.

 

Ross,

Actually I expect the paint will outlast the rest of the chassis. I have experience with two vehicles that were done this way.

First is my Jeep that was done this way back in 2007 still looks great. Then again I treat it right and wash polish it regularly. And yes I do off-road it.

Second is the 87 Mustang GT owned by a friend of mine which he and I did this way back in 2006. Four years and counting on that one and it's driven regularly and only gets a carport for shelter. Then again, he takes care of his paint too.

Just like anything else, if you don't take care of something it will look like crap in short order. If you take care of it you'll be rewarded with a paint job that looks good for at least 4 years that I can see first hand.

That said, 4 years down the road my car will have 200K or more on it and the XF's will have dropped to a price I'm willing to pay.

 

Hey we will have to compare pics(I said "P-I-C-S"). I was in the same boat. My 98 vdp bgr clear coat was gone and paint was cracked on the hood, roof,& trunk. Rest of the car's paint was ok(20footer).A good reputable shop that I've dealt with before quoted me friend price of $975 to strip to bare metal and spray the entire top side providing I stripped the trim and masked the car. Even with friend price it would of been $4000 to paint entire car(if the shop did everything including minor bodywork).Just doesn't make sense. Current money in car including price of car is$4800($975paint,$40hood struts,$70foglamp,$90leaper,$135 radiator,$20antenna mast, and$280for3 tires car came with20's). I purchased it 4weeks ago. I hope to have a nice presentable daily driver for less than kbb says its worth.

 

No kick Sinister, I suspected you were looking for that instant gradification and didn't have or want to spend. I hope it works out for ya but IMO you took a car that might have been worth 5k and turned it into a car worth 3k by spending a grand. I wouldn't buy a car that had a macco job as working for years as a CR writer for Manheim Auto Auction has taught me how much it costs to fix it. In fact ,I also, wouldn't buy so new a car that needed painted b/c it tells me the previous owner(s) likely didn't take good care of it. That is unless I got it cheap enough to put a proper finish on it.

There are plenty things to consider when painting i.e. how long you plan to keep it, what you want out of it, etc. I would have guessed for about $500 more depending on color you could have had it painted with quality automotive paint as you did all the hard work yourself. To me my time is valuable and I wouldn't want to not be 100% satisfied. If you are great!!! I hope it lasts 3 days longer than you need it to.

I'm just curious why your car was so bad? Was it like that when you bought it or what didn't you do to it to keep it right (as you seem from your posts to be quite **** about your maint- and I like **** people).

 

benebob:
I cannot disagree with most of your post, BUT, I take exception with your value proposition. If you buy a 15 year old Jag as an investment, you are in a fools game. If you want a garage car to take out and drive with pride on Sunday if it ain't raining, you are probably right. If you plan to drive it and enjoy the ride and comfort, you want to do so at the least $$$. -and Maaco will last as long as any daily driver X308. They are 15 years old , man.

 

A picture is worth a thousand words.

Check the reflection of the text in the paint.

 

I bought the car back in January of this year. The worst part was the clear on the roof was gone and the base was showing through. It's previous history shows that it was from down south so I suspect the clear was worn away by sun, acid rain, and auto car washes.

I had to deal with that before the worn clear became a rust problem.

 

Investment? Heck even a Cobra bought back in the day was a poor investment compared to putting the money into a standard savings account once you factor in the upkeep and storage.

Where you wrong is that a x308 can and should last 400k or so if driven regularly. That is a heck of a lot of daily driving miles and even at 20k a year you still have 7-8 years left with the car. Problem is most people need the newest, badest to impress the neighbors with and are so engrained with throwing away old stuff. I know, I'm a different breed, how many other people ride a 40 year old motorcycle daily (so long as it isn't snowing when I leave for work in the dark) with cable actuated drum brakes and less displacement then my lawn mower.

 

See now that's where I would have told the seller they were crazy for expecting sell it for anything but $500 below KBB poor condition as it would take $3k more to make the paint right. Then I would have had plenty of money to make it right. As you stated earlier, care of the paint goes a long way to long term durability but the biggest problem I've seen with Macco jobs is the lack of adhesion which no amount of wax will prevent.

Looks as good as any paint pic can btw, I hope it fits your needs and desired life span.

Both of our Jags live outside. In fact I don't think I can even get the XJR into the garage without 10 minutes of back and forth. Just wanted to be sure that I shouldn't be using dodo juice or the like to keep the paint good.

 

My Father painted his 76 Ford Ranchero at Maaco a long time ago. As I remember, the shine was still good for about 10 years. He did do occasional waxing, but nothing crazy. The problem he had was adhesion around the edges. BUT, I believe that was due to the poor prep work done before spraying. I had gone down to the shop to pick it up with him, and I noticed a few cars that were about to be painted. Their sanding and prep was Definitely Sub-Par, (not sanded all the way to edges or evenly on open areas). The guy spraying the paint did a nice even job. I will agree, the paint is probably not the same quality as some of the more expensive shops, and as such, maintenance will be important. but it sounds like maintenance will not be an issue here. If the prep was done well, and it sounds like it was, it should last quite a long time, based on my Father's experience.

The photo looks good. Even the edges seem to be well coated and even. Of course, it's hard to tell from a photo, but bottom line, if you are happy, then you got an EXCELLENT deal on the job.

 

benebob:
400,000???? You are kidding yourself. You cannot practically rebuild a Nikasil engine, and the rings and piston wear will be causing blowby at an unacceptable rate before then. BTW, I have two XJRs that have 400,000 mile between them, and an XJ8 with 150,000 taht I bought new. They are all well maintained and are in good mechanical shape. But the XJR (250,000 miles) is tired, makes noises I cannot explain, uses a little oil and throws random nuisance codes that go away by themselves. I sure ain't planning on it making 400K without it costing me 3 times what another used one costs. Ergo, the second one.

 

No kidding, I live in the real world and I did in fact rering a Nikasil p200 engine this spring after having it honed properly. It can be done practically Its been being done in the motorcycle world for years. Oh and that is mostly why I didn't buy a Nikasil engined car but your right it is much cheaper to simply go to www.car-part.com and buy a $1500 used low mileage engine and throw it in over a weekend. I am not your average American throw away machine. I do however, reep the benefits of all those who are. So long as I can keep it reliable enough for my needs there is very little reason to get rid of it. No I never said I plan on making 400k but it should be totally doable for the right driver. I put less than 5k on all my vehicles in a given year and probably will be in the ground long before I could reach 400k on any of them.

 

My kinda guy....I too live on the tailwind of technology....picking up what others are casting off, FOR BEANS!! Currently driving a 99 XJ8...$1200, a little time and effort, riding in style. Currently dealing with a paint-job that hasn't been cared for as it should. typical base coat problems...oxidation. Met with a friend of mine today that told was told by a paint and body man to use purplestuff to remove oxidation. Place on a rag on cool surface (not in sun) and rub till dry. Might give that a try and see how it does. If push comes to shove I will probably go the $50 rustoleum roll-on job, but as it stands now, still looking pretty good for 11 years. Great looking reflection there friend! Check out this guys vids on the subject. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jv7aQ...912&feature=iv

 

Well, we are mostly in agreeement on all that- except maybe just the value of the appearance. It is sort of like wine. Anybody can spend a lot of money to buy a good bottle if they have the dough, but in my estimation, the game is to find a good bottle for little money. The XJR is a such a good find, if you ain't paying the dealer for service and parts. I do not agree with those who keep their Jag just for the weekend, though. I want a comfortable, clean, fun car to drive every time I get in. So, I have one I put 35,000 or 40,000 miles per year on and another I try to keep cleaner. And so far, except for warranty, no one else has turned a wrench (other than alignment) on any of them.