Comparison of Cost for Paint Job of Upgrades (Hood & Rear Fascia)

I am in the process of finding a good bodyshop to paint my upgrade. What prices are people experiencing? I got quoted $825 for hood & fascia (Attorneys run at $150/hr and this job couldn't take more than 4 hrs.). If anyone has a good experience in the LA to San Diego area, that would be helpful.
Thanks

When it comes to paint work you usually get what you pay for. Will the body shop take time to do the proper prep work? Will they spend any time wet sanding? How about the color match? Do they know how to use a rotary buffer "properly"?

My advice would be to stay away from dealership body shops or any chain shops. Many of them just don't take any pride in their work. I'd look for a private body shop and one that specializes in custom paint work. I had my hood repainted at the dealer body shop and after two attempts they still could not produce a quality repair. I could see the repair area, the clearcoat was sagging in the corners, there was solvent bleed through in the clearcoat, the sanding marks were visible, and they did a crap job buffing. I ended up taking it to a shop that specializes in Corvette work and while it did cost more the job came out perfect (including the color match - no blending needed). The normal rate for this shop is $600-700 per panel. It cost me a little more but they had to correct the errors of the first shop as well.

Tim

Rear bumper is gonna cost about $200 - $250. I know that much.

if its a quality shop then the price sounds fine.

I just picked my car up from what I know to be a quality paint shop. Very professional, very good work. I had them repair a nasty scuff underneath my headlight, scuffs the dealer neglected to take care of after curb-checking the bottom of the fascia before I bought it, and filling the holes from the goddamned license plate bracket. I felt that price was more than fair.

They quoted me $800 to remove & reinstall the bumper, headlights, fender badges, remove the existing hood and install the new one, then blend everything all together.

That seems like a lot of money to me, but I'm just about willing to pay it based on the quality of the work that they've done on it already.

Thoughts?

$800- $825 sounds about right for the amount of work they will be performing. If they can do an excellent color match, blending shouldn't be an issue. There is easily more than 4 hours of work to be done when you include proper prep and attention to detail.

The most important part is how happy you are with the results and what is their backing of their work. The shop that did my paint offers lifetime warranty on every car they do.

The local body shop manager says anybody can scuff and paint and then tell ya it'll last two or three years.

Id agree most dealer body shops arent enthusiast, but they do know how to install SAP parts. Plus the Pontiac body shop manager by me, owns two GTO's so he's pretty picky. Price i got quoted for SAP facia and spoiler paint and install is $550. Based on about 9 hrs of body and paint labor.