I'm contemplating getting a new paint job for my car, as the original one is fading very fast. So, are there any decent paint shops in Rolla, and if anyone has had any experience with them, how was it?

Also, as far as cost goes, approximately how much would it cost me to have the paint on my car "restored". (i.e.-new paint job, same color as before) Again, I know cost varies by car and location, but a ballpark figure would be nice.

Thanx!

my dad and i have taken our trucks to independent collision to have them repaired and they do an excellent job. they're located right in front of lowes. my ballpark guess for a paint job would be around $3-$4K? it all depends on what kind of vehicle, how much into detail and what type of paint. if i had the time and money, i'd take it to bench's in waynesville. they do excellent work, but can get expensive.

if you want quality work, it might be worth a trip out to St. Louis. There are some pretty damn good bodyshops in the area. But you'd need a hotel or something to stay while they have your car

The cost of paint usually varies by color, red is usually the most expensive. "Restoring" the paint job would probably cost the same, it would still take about the same amount of work to prepare it.

HIGH TECH COLLISION in Rolla!

i'm not going to type the whole story here, but i'll kill everyone at hi-tech before i let them touch one of my vehicles again. a quick summary is crappy work, unfinished work, vehicle returned in a seriously unsafe condition, they "test drove" it until the tank was empty, then got upset with me because i "told on them" to the insurance company.

Well, my car is a 1990 Chevy Lumina. The original paint color was a light gray pearl coat. There's no cost left on it anymore, and most of the paint has faded a lot from its original hue. The absolute most I would want would be a metallic of the same color (or as close as humanly possible) Does that clarify a little bit for you?

Also, on a side note, I hate to ask with all of you car repair nuts here, but I can assume that the sub $500 paint job from MAACO is worthless then?

If you want to do this easily and cheaply, you might consider taking it over as a project car for RTI-RTC...

I mean, it sounds like this car isn't really worth the paint you're going to put on it. It's definitely not worth taking to St. Louis, and there's really no reason for you to drop more than $1500 on the paint job. You can get a very decent job from the guys in the auto body repair program out here. That is, if you can rationalize the idea of letting 17 and 18-year olds strip, prep, spray and sand your car. The second year guys should be able to do some pretty good work.

Call them up (I think it's actually RTC that does the auto body program) and ask if/when they'd be able to get you in. As far as rates go, you can expect to pay for the paint (at least $80-100/qt) and $5-10 an hour for labor. (You can see where this is an advantage?) One disadvantage is that you can expect to be without your car for a week because each class only works on it 3 hours at a time.

Basically, if you're not looking for showroom quality but you still want a good job for cheap, look into it.

Well, I agree, the car is not worth a $3000 paint job at all. Frankly, the RTC idea sounds pretty good. Do you know of anyone that has been through that program that I could talk to for a "customer testimonial"? Also, just out of curiosity, what's the difference, if any, between a "showroom quality" paint job, and a "good but not showroom" job?

Showroom quality paint jobs look like glass. Good paint jobs look like paint.

In a nutshell, anyway

I've had more than one car with custom paint jobs. Hi-Tech did a better job on it than any of the other places I had been to (all in STL). They have alot of experience in doing custom work that is why I took my eclipse to them. They gave me a set price only to fit body kit, shave off everything but door handles, full paint job. They went a step farther and reinforced my urethane kit with metal suppports. I even had the car's computer decide to take a dump in their shop. They were very quick to get it into a shop and have it replaced for me free of charge. So in my personal experience I was very happy with High-Tech. I plan on taking my next car (GSX) there soon.

I painted my truck myself. A pro could probably tell what is good and what isn't, but from a distance, it looks pretty good. I am not offering to paint your vehicle, but I can give you some insight.

Professional jobs will cost no less that $1500. These kinda things are lots of hard work, especially if you want the paint to stay on your car for longer than only one year. The paint I bought was about $85 a gallon. I have 3 different colors on my truck, but it took 2 gallons of white to get the base color completely applied (and maybe a gallon and a half of the other colors, but that isn't what you are doing).

Long story short, I was able to paint my truck for about $400. I borrowerd my dad's paint gun. made a paint booth in my Mom's garage with painter's plastic on the floor, ceiling, and hanging from the walls, with vent holes cut and filters set up to keep bugs and dirt out. 2 24" box fans were used to cycle the air (that didn't work as well as I would have liked).

Make sure that they put at least 2 coats of Clear coat on your car. Without some sort of clear coat, a sprayed and not baked paint job is like the surface of a pancake, only smoother. There are lots of divits and valleys from the nature of the paint traveling through the air that catches dirt while the vehicle is parked outside. This dirt refuses to come off at carwashes without a LOT of scrubbing. Clear coat is like a layer og glue that is put over the paint. It dries smoother, shinier, and greatly increases the lifespan of your paint. It also cleans MUCH MUCH easier (very handy if you like automatic car washes).

That is my $.02 + $140. And Remember, I am talking form experience.

I also painted my truck, and it wasn't something I want to do again any time soon. It's a lot of work just to make your car look a little better. And all the professional shops I went to were charging crazy amounts of money.

I would say just save your money and buy a new (or used) car sometime soon, and your 14 year old car probably won't be lasting too long anyway.

vogt's did my repaint when i spun off the road about 2 yrs ago from the mass snow on 44. they guarantee their paint job for the life of your car. it's awesome. although, i dont want to drive back to rolla to get my car repainted if i ever need it.