I've got a black 2007 xkr. I've never been a fan of owning black cars because of the swirl marks that are visible in black paint as well as how easily it shows dirt. I bought this particular car because it was a great deal and it had really low miles. Anyway my dream car has always been an orange Lamborghini Diablo but since that's not gonna happen any time soon, I've been seriously thinking about doing a color change on the xkr.....Pearl Orange with blacked out grill and hood vents! What do you guys think? Now I'm sure there may be some who don't like the flashy colored exotic cars anyway, but for those that do, what's your opinion of that color on an xkr?

 

I think it would look interesting for sure. I definitely like salsa red XKRs with a black leather interior. However, the cost of doing a change like that is prohibitive!

I have a black XKR as well. Yeah, it does suck keeping it clean, especially during pollen season. But if you know what you're doing any you're disciplined (no machine washes, no California Car Dusting, etc.) you can keep it relatively swirl free.

 

Orange is a great color, but I would keep the trim "as is" to make it look as OEM as possible. Can't wait to see it.

 

Your car, your money.

"I can't have a Lamborghini, so I'll paint this Jaguar a Lamborghini color." doesn't strike me as quite logical, but again, your car, your money.

 

Vinyl wrap it. Its not permanent, far cheaper than a decent re-paint and you can find some very interesting colors.

 

If your going to go orange.....paint it the same as the new Orange Jaguar F-Type paint. Then you would have an original Jaguar color. I would not wrap it, but spend $5000 for a quality long lasting paint job. Just make sure that you really like the color you choose.

Don't go too crazy, since a 2007, you may never be able to sell the car unless the paint work is really something special.

Hire a graphic artist to put the car on a computer and work on a primary color, highlighted colors for trim and see what the car will really look like. With computer graphics you can design many combinations to make your car a one of a kind car.

Just my opinion.

 

Not sure "orange" is a "Lamborghini" color. Just said I'd like an orange lambo.

 

2nd on the wrap

 

I just bought my second black XKR. I love black on a Jag. I finished detailing my new XKR today with Wolfgang Total Swirl Remover, Pinnacle Finishing Glaze, Klasse AIO, KLASSE Glaze, and Pinnacle Souveron Carnauba Wax. Not a mark on the car now. I also had a Suntek clear bra installed on the front, 12" up the sides wheel to wheel, behind the rear wheels, on the top of the rear bumper in the hatch area, and on the mirrors. It arrived from Florida with a lot of acid rain damage to the clear coat-had to work hard to remove rain marks it. Car must have been on the lot outside for some time.

I was going to pick up one of those California Car Dusters tomorrow. Are they really bad for causing swirl marks? I don't have one swirl mark on my car. I thought the Car Duster would save a lot of time. With the car even in the garage in collects dust.

 

You had great success with the detail work, because you spared no expense and bought high quality products to do the job. Bravo to you.

I would suggest Meguiars Microsoft cleaning cloths, and some Meguiars Quik Detail over the California Car Duster. Also buy a cheap car cover to cover the car while in the garage. All my cars are under covers, and I never use the covers outside, so it is not necessary to spend allot of money on a car cover.

Just my .02 cents of information to you.

 

If $5,000 would get a quality paint job I would have to agree. Unfortunately good quality materials will run about $3,500. For a driver quality repaint you are most likely looking at $10,000 and possibly even a bit more.

I am having a show quality paint job done over a perfectly straight bare metal body and I am looking at $25,000+. Paint jobs have gotten very expensive lately.

 

Might as well ship you car to Czech Republic for that kind of money. Shipping and work would come out less than 20K. Lot of good restoration talent there for short money.

 

Is there any other colour for a Jaguar other than british racing green;-)

 

Spending $25,000 for a paint job IMO is crazy. You will never be able to recoup that money when selling. If you have deep pockets, a high net worth, and lots money then it doesn't matter.

You might be surprised to see what $5000-$7000 will get you. You just need to shop around and spend some time conducting research.

Come down to New Mexico and you can get a beautiful paint job for $5000.
No need to ship the car overseas to the Czech Republic. The mexicans down here really know how to work on cars. This is lowrider heaven, and there are some super nice cars here with show quality paint jobs. And they don't use paint brushes to paint cars.

 

I am sure I could have saved a bit of money going elsewhere. I chose to keep everything local so I can visit the shops while the work is getting done. I have found over the years that being involved in the building phase is more fun than having it completed.

I do know that Eastern Block countries have very good and reasonably priced metalworking talent. This being a fairly extensive custom needed someone who has a lot of traditional "lead sled" experience.

OP sorry I didn't mean to hijack your thread

 

I wasn't suggesting he spend $25k as his car doesn't warrant it. I do have a fairly extensive knowledge of what it costs to paint cars. Restorations and building street rods has been my hobby for the better part of the past 35 years.

While I don't question that you can have a car painted for $7K I can assure you the paint will detract from the value of the car. He is looking to change colors. That means it should be torn down pretty deep so it doesn't have the previous color showing anywhere.

It really comes down to what you are painting. To this point I have well over $100k in my Thunderbird and I would guess I have at least another $75k to finish it. The car already has a following and will likely be considered an impactful car in the custom world well into the future.

Though $25k does seem like a lot for paint I expect it will cost me closer to $40K to do my 300SL Benz. It really depends on what you are painting.

OP Sorry again.

 

DGL, CCDs are terrible for swirl marks, even with light pressure. Pollen is no different than any other kind of dirt when it comes to marring your paint finish.

As difficult as it seems, I wouldn't touch your paint between normal washings. But that's just me!

 

You bought the car because it was a good deal. Now your making it a bad deal by having it painted and changing the paint color. You're going to spend lots of money for no gain. You will never get a 100% complete color change. The resale value will decrease substantially--no one wants a car that was repainted, especially a color change.

I would invest in a dual action polisher like the portal cable and buy some quality detailing products and you will be amazed at how good the old paint will turn out. Autogeekonline.net and their store autogeek.net offer a wealth of information and products. Also check them out on youtube. Once you have the black paint properly detailed with several lays protective coatings you should find it easier to maintain. I used Klasse all-in-one and Klasse Glaze (3 coats of hard acrylic protection) and followed up with Pinnacle Souveron Carnauba Wax. Before applying the finishing coats prepare the paint by claying, and maybe 3 levels of polishing compound if necessary. I used 2 levels on my new 2013 to remove all water marks and minor scratches in the clear coat. No color looks better than a properly detailed black car and no color looks better on a Jag than black (IMO).

Don't devalue your car.

 

100% agree with DGL. Great post.

 

My Benz CLK was bottle green before I had it resprayed BMW Imola Red and I can tell you, people want it a hell of a lot more now. It was done in 2006 for $3000 and it still looks perfect today.

I'm third to agree with wrapping your Jag though. Won't cost nearly as much, looks good (when done right) and you can change color as your tastes change.