How much for a respray

[Potatan]

Hi,

I’m just wondering what might be considered a reasonable cost for a respray.  This is just to change the colour, no bodywork involved.  The car is a MK1 Eunos with pop-up lights.

 

Been quoted £2500 which seems a bit steep for such a small car (especially as the car is only worth around £1600)

 

I realise this very much depends on location / quality etc. but any ball park figures would be welcome

 

Thanks in advance!

[Scottishfiver]

You got close to answering your own question.

I could mention a place near me who would rightly charge 3k to 4k even for what you need, but you’d end up with a 1 foot finish.

£1.5 will get you ( perhaps) a “10 foot” decent blow-over but don’t expect a strip out…it’ll be a mask job.

£2.5 k? I’d have thought gets trim removal, but not the screen or rain rail (which with age go brittle…leave it)  

Wherever you end up, so long as they know how to actually spell “Preparation is everything” 

Paint & lacquer is really quite cheap…it’s the pre-prep and after mopping that both costs & coiunts especially if they manage to miss things like door specification stickers and mask off the engine bay properly…etc.

[Bettabuilda]

My NC2 PRHT is booked in with a local paint shop in Morley, Leeds. They’ve looked over the car, we’ve agreed that, as it’s going to be the same colour, ALUMINIUM METALLIC 38P in the main, they won’t be painting under the bonnet/boot/door shuts apart from some slight oxidisation under front lip of bonne and under rear lip of boot where it’s showing surface rust. Roof/door handles/fog surrounds/windscreen surround will be a different colour (another metallic at the moment) for £1.5k. Bumpers off, some prep such as badge holes being filled etc. Bumpers off, I’m removing the grille and fog surrounds myself and bumper needs to be off for that so I’ll replace fasteners etc and just leave it loosely attached., a weeks work they’ve advised. Paint Tech, they’re on Facebook with some amazing pics and reviews. I’ve had to wait over two months for a slot but hopefully worth it 

Barrie

[rhino666]

@Potatan

Hi,

I’m just wondering what might be considered a reasonable cost for a respray.  This is just to change the colour, no bodywork involved.  The car is a MK1 Eunos with pop-up lights.

 

Been quoted £2500 which seems a bit steep for such a small car (especially as the car is only worth around £1600)

 

I realise this very much depends on location / quality etc. but any ball park figures would be welcome

 

Thanks in advance!

No bodywork is the caveat. MK1 potentially now approaching 30 years old so no bodywork is going to be an unlikely exception. Having just repaired the rear sills and sill side of the front wings on my 1997 MK1 you have to be realistic about this. If no bodywork is required, so just preparation and spraying i would expect a figure of £1500 - 2000 for a professional respray, associated guarantees and a quality job.     

 

[Potatan]

Thanks for all the responses. I’m encouraged to get a couple more quotes at least. On the issue of bodywork, the car is fantastically clean and well preserved underneath, despite being close to 30 years old. It “only” has around 77k miles so I’m guessing whichever people owned it prior to me kept it garaged for sunny days

[ast]

£1200 for this respray, included attention to some arch damage

Previous:



Body had a LOT of hail damage




Within 3 years, the repair on the arch was going bad. Had sills, arches replaced.




What I got for the car covered the cost of the respray and later repairs, pretty much. The rest of the car was essentially thrown in for free. New owner got a bargain. If respraying the car, I would be hypercritical of anything around the sills and arches, irrespective of the alleged mileage. If the car is an import, I would totally disregard the odometer reading.

[Roadie]

In your first post you said the car is only worth £1600. Change the colour and it will still only be worth £1600.

There weren’t any bad colours to start off with so why change it. With the £2.5k or thereabouts that you are talking about there is so much more you can do.

Using my own experience of Mk1 ownership I’d guess that amount of money would service, MOT, tax, insure and fill it with fuel for two or three years.

Failing that, sell it and buy an even better one in a colour you like.

[ast]

@Roadie

In your first post you said the car is only worth £1600. Change the colour and it will still only be worth £1600.

There weren’t any bad colours to start off with so why change it. With the £2.5k or thereabouts that you are talking about there is so much more you can do.

Using my own experience of Mk1 ownership I’d guess that amount of money would service, MOT, tax, insure and fill it with fuel for two or three years.

Failing that, sell it and buy an even better one in a colour you like.

 

I doubt any rust free Mk1 with good paintwork is worth only £1600. If rust free and good paint, the starting number is £3k. If the paint is rough (very often the case, especially imports), then its worth only £1600. A lick of paint will double the value.

 

Of course, it could be said that a Mk1, thats rust free, but rough paint, will still continue to climb in value over 2-3 years, even if you left it alone. But it looks ■■■■. And when you come to sell, probably a bit harder to sell.

[Paul_W1]

Can you “prep” the car yourself? If so, you should be able to reduce the cost considerably - you pay for man hours as well as paint.

I built my other sports car (admittedly a bit smaller than an MX-5) from scratch, then stripped it down again to component parts, prepped them all and delivered them to the paint shop. It cost me a fraction of the cost of a “wash it and drive in” only job.

[Keat63]

Personally, i wouldn’t change the colour.

I did this once many years ago on a fiesta, and regretted it almost from day 1.

 

Things like lifting the bonnet and finding it red under there instead of blue (or whatever colours).

Stone chips will also reveal the original colour.

 

If you’re serious about a colour change, consider wrapping it instead.

It will cost about the same, but you can revert back to stock at a later date.

[Roadie]

@saz9961

@Roadie

In your first post you said the car is only worth £1600. Change the colour and it will still only be worth £1600.

There weren’t any bad colours to start off with so why change it. With the £2.5k or thereabouts that you are talking about there is so much more you can do.

Using my own experience of Mk1 ownership I’d guess that amount of money would service, MOT, tax, insure and fill it with fuel for two or three years.

Failing that, sell it and buy an even better one in a colour you like.

 

I doubt any rust free Mk1 with good paintwork is worth only £1600. If rust free and good paint, the starting number is £3k. If the paint is rough (very often the case, especially imports), then its worth only £1600. A lick of paint will double the value.

 

Of course, it could be said that a Mk1, thats rust free, but rough paint, will still continue to climb in value over 2-3 years, even if you left it alone. But it looks ■■■■. And when you come to sell, probably a bit harder to sell.

Actually SAZ either of us could be right. If the OP has just bought the car and the rust hasn’t bubbled through yet but will do soon then I’m right. If he’s had it ages and all the mechanicals and bodywork has been sorted then you win. We can only guess as we don’t have all the info.

However we’ve both answered a question that hasn’t been answered. We’ve answered ‘Is it worth £2.5k to change the colour?’. The actual question was ‘Is £2.5k a fair price for a colour change respray?’.

I’ll hold my hands up and say I don’t know.

[Drumtochty]

@Potatan

Hi,

I’m just wondering what might be considered a reasonable cost for a respray.  This is just to change the colour, no bodywork involved.  The car is a MK1 Eunos with pop-up lights.

 Been quoted £2500 which seems a bit steep for such a small car (especially as the car is only worth around £1600)

 

Put your self in the body shops position.

What do you earn a year gross?

Divide that by say 1,700 hours a year to get an hourly rate you would receive before tax. Then double that rate to cover the cost of running the bodyshop and buying and servicing the paint oven.

I reckon to get a nice finish we are talking about 120 hours unless you do a lot of the prep and putting the car back together then a final rub down.

I agree with some others here that a 25 year old car will need some bodywork sorting even you do not notice it.

Therefore 120 hours at the shop rate, be honest with this as why should a pro painter earn less than you plus say £350 or so materials. Total that up and add 20% VAT.

Please advise the number you come to.

If that is too much money start removing work like just masking areas rather than removing items like the hood etc an accepting there will be a lot of areas the original colour will stare you in the face when you lift a carpet, open the boot or open the bonnet. Assuming you will accept that. In that case use 80 hours and redo the calculation. Advise your number again.

If the car is a keeper assume the full job if you change your car after a year or so do the minimum job.

From what you have said in your second post, the amount you can save on the job is more important to you. Just accept that a £1,500 job on the car will not look as good as a more expensive job done by a very good body shop.

I would agree with other poster that changing the colour and doing a good job is uneconomic in my eyes on the majority of cars.

 

 

 

 

 

[Keat63]

 

I’m really pleased that having work done by others isn’t based on that formulae.

A respray for me would be more than the £2500 quoted.

 

Ouch.

[ast]

@Roadie

@saz9961

@Roadie

In your first post you said the car is only worth £1600. Change the colour and it will still only be worth £1600.

There weren’t any bad colours to start off with so why change it. With the £2.5k or thereabouts that you are talking about there is so much more you can do.

Using my own experience of Mk1 ownership I’d guess that amount of money would service, MOT, tax, insure and fill it with fuel for two or three years.

Failing that, sell it and buy an even better one in a colour you like.

 

I doubt any rust free Mk1 with good paintwork is worth only £1600. If rust free and good paint, the starting number is £3k. If the paint is rough (very often the case, especially imports), then its worth only £1600. A lick of paint will double the value.

 

Of course, it could be said that a Mk1, thats rust free, but rough paint, will still continue to climb in value over 2-3 years, even if you left it alone. But it looks ■■■■. And when you come to sell, probably a bit harder to sell.

Actually SAZ either of us could be right. If the OP has just bought the car and the rust hasn’t bubbled through yet but will do soon then I’m right. If he’s had it ages and all the mechanicals and bodywork has been sorted then you win. We can only guess as we don’t have all the info.

However we’ve both answered a question that hasn’t been answered. We’ve answered ‘Is it worth £2.5k to change the colour?’. The actual question was ‘Is £2.5k a fair price for a colour change respray?’.

I’ll hold my hands up and say I don’t know.

 

A respray can range from £800 to £5000+, depending on the level of work. Colour changes cost more, lots more if you want the engine bay done. I am sceptical of anyone who says they have just brought a rust free 30 year old car.

[Thatbeetle]

I love these posts, always make me laugh. A “respray” is only as good as what you want to spend. As for not needing any bodywork it will, guaranteed.  

Last time i had a front sorted on one of my cars (bumper, blend into bonnet and wings) that was £500 and that needed minimal prep. If you reckon a body-shop will be £100 an hour then times that by how long you want them to work on your pride and joy. 

As the old saying goes “good, fast and cheap. Choose two of those because you won’t get the third”. 

And as a quick guide my missus had her beetle restored last year. The body-shop portion of that was £4k and they didn’t touch under the bonnet or interior. There was metal work involved in that but nothing massive and the bill would have been higher if we were on a tight timeline. 

[bally3]

As the old saying goes “good, fast and cheap. Choose two of those because you won’t get the third”. 

 

i’ll take GOOD + FAST   

[ast]

Good and cheap is possible if you find a bodyshop that will fit a car in around regular (insurance) work, or in the sprayer’s spare time. My first Roadster was repainted for £800 many years ago at a Vauxhall body centre, with the sprayer working his evenings and weekends. The finish was fine. Over the years, I have had only 3 Mk1s repainted, so my experience is limited.

When split screens fetching high 5-digits, probably worth spending the time and money on those. With MX5s, there will always be a relatively low ceiling for these cars.

As for hours and hourly rate. Thats a bit of a fiction; no one is using a stop watch on the jobs. Its a round about number. Probably better to think in days/ half days, not hours.

[Bobchiba]

Whereabouts are you? I just had my NBFL resprayed by IP Resprays in Ipswich - they can turn around an MX5 faster than most as they have done 100s due to a relationship with a local MX5 specialist, and therefore are on the more reasonable side of pricing as they’ve become quite efficient with them. Mine is Razor blue which is a particularly fussy colour to deal with and they’ve done a great job (and I’m fussy). They also debadged it for me on request and filled in the holes, which was a nice touch. Price will depend on colour and time frame ideally he’d want to look at it first. 

 

[Quinvy]

Nice, but you’re not telling us how much it cost you?