ok, today i figured i wouold go out and see what a 2-tone paintjob will run me.

all i wanted was the top painted Aqua Blue Metalic with a black cutoff line. no jams, not under the hood or anything.

the lowest was $2500

the highest was almost $5000!!!!

looks like im not going with a new painjob for this summer.

right now i have the choice of air ride or a couple TVs and a FG system.

 

How much are you looking at for air ride? Is that adjustible height?

 

Yikes! That seems a "tad" on the high side. A few days before Christmas a deer decide he wanted to get initmate with my HHR and after the new bumper, grill, hood, right front fender, A/C cond., radiator and cooling fan were put on the bil for painting (Silverstone) everything from the back of the front doors forward including paint, clear coat, hazardous materials disposal and miscellaneous shop supplies was only $336 out of a total of $3,862.11

Perfect match, no imperfections and after 6'000 miles is still looking great. The repairs/paint were NOT done at a dealership.

I would keep checking some of the other shops in your area for a better price. Your top should be a lot less area than the front half of my vehicle.

 

were they gonna reclear the whole car. if not it should be way cheaper

 

Ordered a 2009 2LT panel in Silverstone and had my dealer duplicate the two tone panel shown in the 2008 brochure. They also taged me $2500 for it.

 

shops have lots of overhead for specailized tools and lots of epa /environment type regulations that also require more equipment and so on. insurance pays for most of their work , and that also brings up their price as well as salvage yards. but , there are still good shops that can give you a good job at a good price , you may need to shop around to find. if you do find a good deal , look at some of their completed work to see if it is good. you may also want to talk to some of their customers. some of the best paint & body work comes from small shops that do not look fancy. if you go to a big fancy building , you will be one of the people paying for all of that high rent.

 

I suggest you keep shopping. In this economy someone needs the work. I paid $1000 for my paint job including welding the wiper hole and painted pinstripes. I just had the top done and didn't re-clear the whole car. I know I got a good deal but 5k is insane. Find a hungry painter.

 

Insurance companies also have the power to tell the shops how much they're going to pay for paint, so comparing collision repair to custom paint isn't really that accurate. The shop has to scuff, prep, paint, and blend the new clear with the factory job. The color you want may not be compatible with the color that's already there, so they may have to paint a red, black, or white base before they can paint the new color on top.

 

Silver fox, If ROCK N can get a dealer to paint the 2 tone for $2,500, then you should be able to get a mom n pop shop to do it a whole lot less! I was thinking with prep and paint and re-clear only the new paint should be under a grand Your quotes all seem way high

By the way ROCK N, I love that 2 tone in the 08 brochure! Can you believe they feature a paint job in the sales brochure that you CAN'T order

 

I thought you were selling your HHR??