Perhaps you’ve thought about how your car’s paint job has begun to show its age and wondered if you should repaint it. Doing a repainting can bring a lot of satisfaction, but you should consider a few things before you tell someone to repaint it. First, repainting a car takes careful thought because of the cost. You can expect it to cost $1,000, but it depends on the complexity and the paint you want. The average range is anywhere from $300 to $10,000.
Worth It? Depends on the Vehicle
Some repaints will cost as much as 25 percent of the car’s value, which makes it a bad deal. Request an appraisal through a dealership, professional appraiser or lender before you repaint it. If it costs 25 percent or more of the car’s value, you may want to skip the paint job and just drive it.
Changing the Color: Should You Do It?
Changing the car’s color will cost more than repainting it with the same color. You should also understand how this can impact its resale value, and in most cases, the value won’t take a turn for the positive. Sometimes it will drop in value by as much as 20 percent.
Are You Holding the Car for the Long Term?
If you plan to hold onto the car over the long term and a new paint job would give you pleasure, then it might be worth the extra cost to repaint your car. Especially if you don’t care about the resale value, it would freshen up its look. Now, everyone should understand how no new paint job will ever have as much value as the original factory paint job. Unless you’re willing to pay $7,000 or more, the original factory paint job will always look better, so you want to protect it as much as possible.
Many Choice for Paint Jobs
You can choose from a variety of paints that will impact the price and quality of the paint job. Everything considers the color, quality and level of preparation. Let’s say you encounter one shop willing to do it for $700 and another that requests $1,400. In 99 percent of all circumstances, you can expect that the $700 paint job will give you half the value. You can get lucky deals on this, but on the whole, you will get a subpar job if you go too cheap.
Don’t Expect a Repainting to Fix All Your Problems
We highlight this because you need realistic expectations. The second paint job will almost never beat the original factory paint job, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do it. You need realistic expectations.
The other thing is that painting over severe damage won’t fix the issue. Think of it like putting a bandaid over a bullet wound. In some cases, a shiny new paint job can even highlight the problem areas on the car even more. To get the best results, the auto body shop should be able to remove the old paint on the car and fix the problematic areas.
This would include things like:
- Gouges
- Scratches
- Rust spots
- Holes
- Pits
- Dents
Fixing these things beforehand will ensure that you receive the best results. You can’t just paint over the problem, and you don’t want to hire an auto body shop that uses that approach.
Repainting a Car Adds Value Usually
Most of the time when you repaint a car, it will add value if you use the right auto body shop. You might think of repainting as an investment because it makes your car more attractive and will bring in more buyers. In some cases, a new paint job can add a couple of thousand dollars in value.
When you Google “auto body shop near me,” however, check to see that you use a reputable shop. You want someone who understands paint jobs and will do the best work possible with quality paints. A lousy paint job can have the opposite effect on value.
The Unknown Risk
Some risk does exist and many people don’t even realize the danger because you’d never think you’d need to remove the interior to do a paint job. This removal includes the dash, console and seats. In some cases, the technician accidentally damages the interior. Reputable technicians remove this extra so that it doesn’t interfere with painting.
Most auto body shops recommend that you remove all your valuables from the car before you have a paint job done. This removes the risk that you would find anything missing, but it saves time as well with what they need to remove from the car.
Call on the Best Body Shop in NJ
If you’re interested in a business that can do paint jobs well, Elmer’s Auto Body has served the South Jersey community for over 75 years. We have the know-how and the experience to ensure that you receive a paint job that will add value. Sometimes people choose to get a paint job done just as a way to pump up the value of the car right before they sell it. Provided you hired a reputable auto body shop that knows what they’re doing, that can be a viable path to get some extra cash. Call Elmer’s Auto Body today at (856) 218-0202.