Custom colors by painting

[Colorado buff]

You will not be able to buy prepainted body panels from Ford. They will have RTP (ready to paint). To do a complete color change the above estimate of $8k-$10k is not far off the mark. Quality material alone will be $3k-$4k.

How I see your options.

#1 live with the color you buy
#2 wrap it the color you like
#3 wait until Ford offers a color to your liking
#4 paint it

#3 is the best option!

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[markavelli]

I really want a green bronco and also want a MY21, just because I want the first year and my current car will be done in about a year. With the replaceable body panels, would it be easier to change the color in the future than a more conventional vehicle? I'm thinking about getting iconic silver and maybe the interior painted parts will still work if I just repaint the exterior. Like just pull the fenders and doors off and paint them. Or even just buy aftermarket or replacement painted panels.

Is this plausible or am I just thinking too far outside the box?

 

[Old Guy]

#1.

You are not guaranteed to ever get the color you want. Maybe what you want will change. Never had a car that I loved the color from start to finish, including my "Got to have it Green" Mustang.

 

[Big Boss]

Regardless of removable panels or not, repainting the vehicle with a reputable shop is going to be about $8,000-10,000 with a scuff and shoot.

Maaco can get that done for $2,000, but you said reputable.

If you're talking about taking it down to bare metal on every panel then re-spraying, then assume 30%-50% more than the scuff and shoot.

Note: My prices are for the greater Seattle area which has a ridiculous cost of living. Adjust prices for your indexed cost of living. EPA regs are no joke and with a quality clear going for about $300 a gallon, materials alone for a full re-spray are going to be ~$3,000.

This guy gets it. To respray a vehicle by a reputable shop is gonna cost an arm and leg. I had someone scratch my bumper on my Mazda and the total for the repairs was 1500....like 900 of that was just for the paint. Paint is expensive, proper prep work is expensive, and someone that knows what they are doing is expensive.

I got quoted $2,400 from a Maaco franchise in Westchester County NY that has a ton of good reviews on Yelp. Economically an expensive area for just about anything. Spoke to the guy and he basicly said, "I don't want to talk you out of giving me money but you do know the resale will go down if you paint a new car?" He was going to do the door jambs, not roof, inside, roll bars or engine bay. In researching, I read that for medium sized cars you should plan on using a gallon and have a quart in reserve. TCP Global is showing paint kits for a lot less than the $3,000 range folks have referenced. Not sure what to believe at this point.

I wouldn't trust maaco as far as I could throw them on a whole body respray lol. Paint is expensive, but remember when paying people to paint alot of the cost is in the prep work, doing things right and labor. Its alot more than just spraying paint on.

 

[dgorsett]

Funny, just last night my wife and I were talking about old times and she randomly brought up Earl Scheib's "I'll paint any car for $99.99" (so, yeah, we're old). I told her that was the absolute bottom end and included ZERO prep. If your car was dirty, it got painted that way. If there was a leaf somewhere, it got painted over. Yeah, they'd "paint your car" for under $100 but, man, you really got what you paid for.

The Maaco reference brought back memories, thanks.

HaHa, you're old? I remember $29.95, but my Jeep Utility wagon was classified as a truck so it cost $39.95, I felt I was being ripped off.

 

[peterh]

JW55- love those renders - if you had the time, could you show a 2 door with the full green body and the white top? that's the combo I am seriously thinking about
i think maaco is out of the running but gonna get a few quotes from some well respected body/paint shops nearby

 

[JW55]

peterh, here are a couple of shades of green I did a few weeks ago. Not perfect but they should be fairly representative examples.

 

[Rick Astley]

I got quoted $2,400 from a Maaco franchise in Westchester County NY that has a ton of good reviews on Yelp. Economically an expensive area for just about anything. Spoke to the guy and he basicly said, "I don't want to talk you out of giving me money but you do know the resale will go down if you paint a new car?" He was going to do the door jambs, not roof, inside, roll bars or engine bay. In researching, I read that for medium sized cars you should plan on using a gallon and have a quart in reserve. TCP Global is showing paint kits for a lot less than the $3,000 range folks have referenced. Not sure what to believe at this point.

You can get a gallon of clear for $50 at Napa auto parts.
If you want to spray a car for $500 in materials it can be done, by you, over a few weeks.

If you aren't a painter and have little experience then it will probably go quite badly.

However, getting on the topic presented by the OP, a REPUTABLE shop that does a full-car re-spray is going to be $8,000-10,000 at minimum. Debate it however you want, show up with the car prepped and blocked, or drive it in and drive it out a month later...... Yelp review Bronco6G and you'll find my post "Gave advice, somebody looked on internet with no personal knowledge or wisdom on subject, prooved me wrong with link to fingernail polish. Site sucks".

 

[Rick Astley]

PS, here's my buddies air compressor with humidity control. He owns a body shop. This unit was about $23,000.

I'm sure you can talk him down to a $2,500 Maaco job.

And here is a proper gallon of clear coat. Without reducer or accelerant it's ~$197 a gallon. Over $300 a gallon for actually spraying.

 

[splathead]

Here is another alternative-liquid wrap. Just peel if off when you're ready for a color change.

https://www.youtube.com/user/DipYourCarcom

 

[peterh]

thank you jw very helpful
thanks to rick as well for the sobering numbers

 

[Garemlin]

I'm all for customs and one-offs. But damn. To add $8-$10k for a quality paint job or $5k for a wrap that isn't permanent to a $45k plus vehicle?? I'll wait it out until they have a color I love.

 

[Big Boss]

You can get a gallon of clear for $50 at Napa auto parts.
If you want to spray a car for $500 in materials it can be done, by you, over a few weeks.

If you aren't a painter and have little experience then it will probably go quite badly.

However, getting on the topic presented by the OP, a REPUTABLE shop that does a full-car re-spray is going to be $8,000-10,000 at minimum. Debate it however you want, show up with the car prepped and blocked, or drive it in and drive it out a month later...... Yelp review Bronco6G and you'll find my post "Gave advice, somebody looked on internet with no personal knowledge or wisdom on subject, prooved me wrong with link to fingernail polish. Site sucks".

This ^ a friend of my dads still paints cars that he builds. But its a very tedious project if you are doing it yourself. He is the type that has the patience to do it the right way. Wake up, coffee and start at 630 am, work till lunch have a sandwich then back to work till about 630 at night and repeat the process. Sanding and wet sanding as needed until its perfect. Not something you are going to knock out in a weekend.

 

[peterh]

alright so just to round out additional information received on this topic - just spoke with two auto body/paint shops, both recommended highly (one by my mechanic of 20 plus years) and a wrapper
the wrapper would not do any exposed hinges, etc. - told me to order black and anything that can't be wrapped will remain black
paint shop one said they would not even do the job - would affect resale and lose factory finish
paint shop 2 (the one recommended by my mechanic) - said he would do it, said nothing about resale and said most likely 4-5 k without looking at the vehicle in person (but said he has kept up on the vehicle's rollout so knows what it looks like) - outside only, not roof

prices are generally higher in my area of the country, so take that for what it's worth.
that's the latest on my end.

 

[Judge Rufus]

Do this as a theft prevention method.

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