painting, molding body kit prices

[darksobsession]

i had the andys knockoff kit installed (from ebay and looks as good as the andys kombat) and i was wondering what a fair price is for fine tuning it - sanding, molding etc. i was quoted 200, which sounds good.

for painting the kit (front, back, sideskirts) i have prices ranging from 800-1200. (maaco was around 1100!) do these prices sound reasonable?

it was great to see the faq on mesh grills. i think i can do it myself (i was quoted 150!).

[clutch1]

Don't get it fully molded unless it's a trailer queen.. it'll crack eventually.. or you'll want to take it off to do something.. intercooler, lambo doors, etc.

good price for molding though.

[bdyman]

custom bodywork is not cheap the labor where i work is starting at 90 an hour, regular body labor is 65, the prices you were quated are cheap, real cheap
any good tech can make fiberglass look like a piece of metal or plastic, if were paid enough to do so , my price would start at 1,200 and goes up from there

[DansGen1Alero]

I think the paint prices are too high, the molding and sanding for 200 is kinda cheap, I am not sure if the place knows what they are getting into. but if you trust um, do it.

Fiberglass isnt rocket science thou, I did all my prep work, just a lot of time to sand, and then repair (I had a tendency to crack fron and rear ends once a year) but I repaired my front bumper every time. in 06 Some guy in a minivan smashed my front end to hell, and I repaired it all. lil here and there, and it was back to looking brand new.

I have gotten my kits painted off the car, and its like 500- 800 at a shop, and I had 2 guys I know charge me only like 500 each time i had a kit painted.

[FrankTheTank]

Originally Posted by clutch1

Don't get it fully molded unless it's a trailer queen.. it'll crack eventually.. or you'll want to take it off to do something.. intercooler, lambo doors, etc.

good price for molding though.

really? you shouldnt even be putting ideas like that in people's heads.

[clutch1]

sorry :P , one of my friends molded his bodykit and side skirts on and now wants to put them on his car.. but he can't get the fenders off LOL. Talk about a good deterrent

[lonnie]

Originally Posted by darksobsession

i had the andys knockoff kit installed (from ebay and looks as good as the andys kombat) and i was wondering what a fair price is for fine tuning it - sanding, molding etc. i was quoted 200, which sounds good.

for painting the kit (front, back, sideskirts) i have prices ranging from 800-1200. (maaco was around 1100!) do these prices sound reasonable?

it was great to see the faq on mesh grills. i think i can do it myself (i was quoted 150!).

Uhm I wouldn't personally go to maaco, but they should be having a bumper sale of 129 for a bumper, so I don't know when you got that quote but you may want to check on that this week.

[darksobsession]

found a place that did kit finishing, painting, detailing for $950. should be done tomorrow.

[darksobsession]

ok, so like a sucker, i agreed to pick the car up at 8p. i did bring a flashlight, however, and the area was lit (not light enough, though, in hindsight).

the owner's brother tells me to bring the car back in a week for buffing and to fix some dents and scratches he did not have time to fix. buffing? well, ok.

stupidly, i pay him cash and take off in my car.

i go run some errands and notice the paint is off. will buffing fix this? dunno. the kit's edges and corners weren't properly sanded and bondo'ed. i call the shop owner and he says he'll work on it himself.

i keep on doing some running around and notice there's curbage on the front bumper! this was hidden by the curb at the shop! i didn't look closely enough.

also, in bright light i can see that he didn't detail the interior properly. there's gravel, dirt and other nastiness that were supposed to be removed! when i picked it up, i only did a quick scan and was reassured by the clean smell of whatever it was that they used.

so i call and am gonna take it back in on monday and try to work things out. he mentioned refund if i am not happy and i am not happpy.

[bdyman]

why would you bring the car back to be buffed?? we buff cars the next day, maybe you hit a curb with and didnt realize it, or they did and tried to hide it shit happens in this buisness
bring the car back and talk calmly to the guy you start freakin out, he`s going to tell you get the eff out of my shop

[AlbinoMonkeyRat]

Originally Posted by darksobsession

ok, so like a sucker, i agreed to pick the car up at 8p. i did bring a flashlight, however, and the area was lit (not light enough, though, in hindsight).

the owner's brother tells me to bring the car back in a week for buffing and to fix some dents and scratches he did not have time to fix. buffing? well, ok.

stupidly, i pay him cash and take off in my car.

i go run some errands and notice the paint is off. will buffing fix this? dunno. the kit's edges and corners weren't properly sanded and bondo'ed. i call the shop owner and he says he'll work on it himself.

i keep on doing some running around and notice there's curbage on the front bumper! this was hidden by the curb at the shop! i didn't look closely enough.

also, in bright light i can see that he didn't detail the interior properly. there's gravel, dirt and other nastiness that were supposed to be removed! when i picked it up, i only did a quick scan and was reassured by the clean smell of whatever it was that they used.

so i call and am gonna take it back in on monday and try to work things out. he mentioned refund if i am not happy and i am not happpy.

well, let this be a lesson for everybody....if you take your car to a place to get detailed/painted/whatever with body work....pick it up in the day time!

sucks all that happened to you dude. hopefully you don't get stiffed on the refund.

[darksobsession]

looking at the car today, the paint seems to have set or something, but it looks good!

there are still scratches/dents to be fixed and two areas on the kit that need work, but it looks a lot better than before.

[bdyman]

so this shop charged you 950, and there is still work to be done, whats wrong with this picture, that car/kit wouldnt leave my hands until i knew it was perfect, and i would never see your car again
and iam sorry paint does not settle as you say, this isnt the 80`s when we used enamle

[darksobsession]

i dunno, it looks better today.

and yeah, i shouldn't have paid before everything was finished, but my car is a daily driver an i need it, it's a hassle to be without a car.

[paulyb]

pics or im calling b.s. lol j/k

[Nate's Alero]

Originally Posted by paulyb

pics or im calling b.s. lol j/k

agree without the j/k part

[lonnie]

1st I hope you have a before pic
2nd I hope you have a after pic
3rd I hope you have a pic detailing the damage thats done etc even if it isn't anything major

Now I firmly believe that if you pay for a job and expect it a certain way that is agreed upon buy both the customer and the company then that job should be complete upon delivery no if ands or buts about it. Plain and simple if they let that car out of there possesion with out it being perfect or damn well near it I would raise hell. Thats bad buisness and to think that (not saying they did) someone would leave dents, scratches, and nics is unacceptable. If its a good buisness they will be upset at the quality of work and get if fixed with no hassle.

[darksobsession]

car's in the shop again, took it in this morning. they now say that they cannot repair all the scratches because they go beneath the clear coat, but will fix what they can, as well as a few major dings. 'buffing' or something. the bad scrape on the front bumper is 100%, so i am mostly happy. the latest i have to wait to get it back is sunday. i dun really care about most of the scratches, and for $950 its all good. will post pics when i get her back. do i upload them directly to this site, or do i have to have them hosted somewhere else?

[darksobsession]

SO i get it back... the deep scratches look like they have been crayoned over. they did not cover the grill when they painted, so now it's silver. there was masking tape on my lights. i just figure wth, i dun wanna deal with them anymore, so f it. but then i take off the bumpers to add grills to all the open areas...and wtf?! the bottom of the bumpers haven't been painted! what's more, the paint starts flaking off! no sanding...no primer! wtf!? so i call the place, say i'm not happy, ask for some money back, don't want to take the car in again and get talked into anything else. done wastking my time, can't get around w/out my car! i dun wanna hear that he doesn't know what his brother promised, etc etc. i had a car diagram with problem areas circled, so he knew exactly what i wanted. what's more, he did do a good job fixing up a big dent/scratch! so i know they can do really good work... why not paint all of my bumper instead of just 40%? owner told me to bring it in and 'it'd only take 15 minutes'?! like i'm taking my car back there. he also proceeded to yell and call me an 'f'in c*cks*cker'... omg, i'm so pissed. i took pics of all the shittiness. i'ma complain to bbb and action line... this means i can't freakin work on the pieces now. at least i have the CAI and B&M shifter kit to work on. aggravating.

[darksobsession]

'fixed sideskirt'

underside of bumper

painted without removing bumper... my insides got painted

paint flaking off