The more I look at the Anthracite paint on my car, the more I am convinced that it can't be saved.. Not only are there rock chips and scratches all over, there is also 2 spots where the paint is faded (around the fuel door, and on the pass side front fender.)

I would have to put quite a lot of work into it at the body shop to get the various areas fixed individually. So I am contemplating having the car fully repainted. I am wondering if anyone on here has experience with this, or in the very least can recommend a reputable place to get it done. I know there is a Maaco 30 minutes from me, but I have never used them. In fact, I have never had a car painted period (other than accident repair to individual panels.) I won't even bother talking to my local body shop.. When I asked him about painting my last Audi, which was a similar size vehicle, he quoted me $6000! And that was IF I removed a number of the trim pieces myself.

Any help is appreciated

 

That $6000 is a reasonable price. If you want a quality paint job, base coat and clearcoat urethane the paint itself will set you back over $1K and there is a lot of labor involved.

When it comes to repaint, you get what you pay for as long as you deal with a reputable shop.

 

I'm afraid that the going rate for a quality respray is about $6 to $7K. You could reduce that by doing most of the prep and re-assembly yourself, but not by that much, maybe 2K at the most.

If your paint isn't too bad, and confined to a few faded areas and some chips, you are best off getting the areas addressed locally.

 

Hi Johnny_B,

You'll hear bad things about Maaco, perhaps because they are less expensive than many other shops or perhaps some shops are not as good as others. But for the record, some of the best paint work I've had done was by a local Maaco shop. It might be worth asking your Maaco if they will put you in contact with some customers who have had work done there.

I agree with Mark that doing most of the disassembly, paint prep and reassembly can save you a lot of money if you are so inclined. And I also agree with him that it would be worth having an expert look at your car to see if some combination of localized respray and polishing the good panels might be satisfactory and less costly.

Cheers,

Don

 

That's pretty average for good paint work. All in all that's about what mine cost, when it comes to paint work especially, you don't want to go cheap on it, it takes a lot of time, and a lot of skill to do good body work, when I had the 4 quarter panels, rockers, and deck lid re-done (fixing a lot of rust) it took them a good month and a half before I got the car back, and was $4,000 worth of work, he said he'd paint the rest of the car for about $2,000 more.
You really do pay for quality.

 

There is a way to accomplish a cheap (~$500) DIY paint job, but it's definitely not for everyone. It takes a ton of time and work, and also a willingness not to care what anyone else thinks about your method of application:

http://rolledon.forummotion.com/t128...j8-vanden-plas

 

Drive it for a year. If you still love it, bite the bullet and do it right.
My 98's roof and boot are pealing. The hood I've already paint as I couldn't stand to look at it. But I'll be doing the whole car over the winter. The car deserves it.. But also, this started as a $1300 beater..

 

Here's what I would do :

Polish the car, and see how it looks. By polish I mean, go over it with a good cutting cream like Presta Ultra Cutting compound, followed by Ultra Polish. Use a random orbit buffer with quality pads.

Before polishing, you can wet sand the worst scratches. Start with 600 grit, then work up to 2000 via 800,1000,1200, and 1500. Don't skip a grit. Do this gently, being careful not to go through the clearcoat. Ultra Cutting compound will remove the 2000 grit sanding marks.

Don't wax it after polishing, as that will make future painting difficult. Don't use any of the high street polishes that contain silicone, as again that will make painting it a problem. Presta products are intended to be body-shop friendly, meaning they don't contain silicone.

If after polishing, the visible scratches and chips are down to a reasonable number, use one of the specialist paint chip and scratch removal services on them.

Then you are looking at getting the faded areas painted.

You need to keep the car out of the sun as much as possible, to avoid any further sun damage of the clearcoat.

 

LOL.. That brings back memories of painting my Fairlane. However, I painted that using satin black spray cans. Actually looked great in the end.. Certainly better than the gray primer look that it had before And the finish held up for about 4 years before it started to fade. In all, it was fairly cheap. I used who knows how many rolls of blue tape, a bunch of newspaper for the windows, and about 10 or 12 cans of spray paint. Probably spent 4 hours on it total. I'd say that the roll on job is much more professional, as he was using proper paint and sanding techniques.

As far as my Jag is concerned, maybe you guys are right.. I will try to schedule an appointment with the body shop, to determine whether or not the paint can be saved. From what you guys are saying it sounds like I can't afford a quality repaint.. I was looking at spending $2.5-3k at most. Darn.

 

I did respray a Triumph for about $500 in materials. I used aerosol cans, about 25 each of the basecoat and clearcoat, from Automotive Touch Up.com, matched to the car. The match was excellent.

I spent a lot of time on prep, filling dents, priming the repaired areas, sanding the entire car for a good key, stripping trim, removing lights, and so on.

The key to the basecoat is many very light layers, not thick ones. You practically start on one corner, and by the the you're back to that corner, you're doing the next coat. Thin layers mean you get a nice even application of the metallic particles.

Then I did the same with the lacquer.

Now the fun starts : wet sanding the entire car - 600, 800, 1000, 1200, 1500, and 2000 grit, compound, and polish. This stage probably took 50 hours on its own.

The finished job looked great. The downside with acrylic paint is chemical and UV resistance. For a second car that's mostly garaged, it's fine. For daily use in the sun, you're going to need two-part urethane, which only body shops can do safely.

 

I agree with Mark, try polishing first.

My XJ8 had a Maaco paint job, and it was horrid. My aunt was the one who had it repainted when she owned it and gave her XJ8 to me. There was overspray everywhere, paint drips, paint on the steering wheel, and the quality of the paint wasn't great, it always etched and got scratches despite the softest pressure I can apply to it.

I tried to keep my paint looking as good as it could be with multiple waxes, and detailing sprays to no avail.

Perhaps it was the one particular Maaco shop ( I don't want to give a bad name for every Maaco shop. )

 

Yikes.. Sounds like she went for the $400 option If memory serves they offer 3 or 4 "levels." I think the top one comes with a 4 or 5 year guarantee.

 

I should point out that the faded areas were not because of sun damage. The area around the fuel door is faded from 14 years of idiots spilling gas there during fill ups. The faded area on the front fender is from someone trying to buff out a scratch or something.

 

I don't know if you have it in the US but in the UK we have polishing products that come in different colours to match your paint, here is a product I used on my mum's black car. It had paint damage from where bird droppings had been allowed to sit on the paint for long periods of time, but they came out with this. COLOR MAGIC SCRATCH REMOVER BLACK

It is possible to get localised areas of paint done without a mismatch of colour, you just need to find a good shop. I was convinced my XJ was going to need a repaint until my body guy demonstrated what can be achieved using the right compound.

 

This is amazing!

 

There is a huge long thread out there somewhere recounting
the experiences of those who have brushed, rolled and sprayed
their cars with good results.

The current favourit is Interlux deck paint which is a two part
catalyzed paint much cheaper than automotive paints.

Don't forget that at one time all the great coachbuilders brushed
the paint on. Multiple coat and sanding repetitions.

 

Pondering a full spray as well, I had my trunk done a few months ago for $350. Now that just makes me notice every other imperfection more so now.

 

The quality of the final product has A LOT to do with the guy who is laying the paint, i.e. the guy with the gun in his hand. Particularly with metallics. Its a skill thats not easy to develop and maintain, plus, he may or may not be the same person doing the body work, but he does have the final say whether the car is fully prepped and ready. He will send it back out of the booth if its not. I learned the hard way that its not the reputation of the SHOP you should be concerned about but the reputation of the painter because he or she can quit for greener pastures and the customer only learns when its too late. Get references, see examples of the work and meet the painter.

But yes, a high quality paint job unfortunately costs more than the average x308 is worth. For quality, you need to spend more just for the cans of primer and basecoat than the total cost of Maaco's budget baked enamel job. You're better off if you can't justify the cost of a high quality job, just not to do it at all because after two years in the sun and weather the baked enamel starts to go bad. Now you've got a $1,500 - $2,000 expense to strip the baked enamel off before you can start over again.

If it were a Camry that still ran good but looked bad, I could see giving it a quick bake job, just to get another 30K miles of transportation out of it without the neighbors snickering at it. But the X308 is a prestige car and a future classic. It loses that prestige and you just wouldn't enjoy it like you have if not done to Jaguar high standards. But you can save 20% or so by dismantling all the trim yourself and reinstalling it after its done. Remember, meet the painter, not the manager or the service tech.

 

Here's a couple of photos of my Triumph Herald, my little girl, before and after she went into the paint shop. The guy who painted her is a family friend who paints trucks (big rigs) for a living, the little Triumph looked lost in his booth. He is based 60 miles away, but it was well worth the trip in my opinion.

The colour is Jaguar Phoenix Red and Renault Tungsten Grey Metallic. She was painted in 2012 and still looks as shiny as the day she came out the shop. I've ditched those naff wire wheels too.

 

I wish I was rich.. Then I could send it back to Jaguar to be repainted