How much money for OE quality paint on hood/bumper

[CBR.worm]

My G35 has a zillion rock chips in the hood and front bumper. I have tried touch up paint to no avail, the hood is aluminum and the OE touch up paint doesn't stick very long. The bumper is plastic and is severly pitted from 135,000 miles of abuse and following too close at high speeds. The rest of the car paint is perfect.

I don't want to make this into a major project and have the fenders painted, any blending, etc. I would just like to get the hood and bumper fixed and painted. I could take them off the car. On my last truck I tried to have a scrape painted by the dealer and they painted the whole fender and half the passenger door as well as the frame, the inner fender, etc. Needless to say I want to avoid all of that.

I am very picky about paint work and rarely see any that is perfect, but I know it exists.

The car is Obsidian Black and has the Infiniti 'hard clearcoat' which some people say is hard to work with, and I assume would no be replicated.

What would a reasonable price be to get this done by a reputable shop. The goal being that I could look at the front of my car and not be embarassed.

Hmmm. That picture doesn't show the damage very well after being shrunk and compressed. I'll have to find another.

 

[JHZR2]

The money is in the prep, not the painting. Not an estimate, but the more $ ape t prepping, the better the result

 

[CBR.worm]

Here are a couple better (worse) pictures.

I would definitely want someone who could prep it right. I can tape stuff, but I can't fill or fix.

 

[asiancivicmaniac]

Go to several shops and ask for estimates to see what they range?

BTW, your tires look like they aren't wide enough for the wheels in the first pic. Maybe it's just an illusion.

 

[VK56VD]

You sound like me. For people like us, it's better to leave things like this alone. Touch up everything the best as you can and let it be. No one will ever match the oem quality.

 

[Vikas]

I can spot a respray a mile away and I bet so can you. If you really want to give it a shot, you are better off with Colorchip or similar techniques. I forgot the other one.

What are those nasty marks on the driver side of the hood in the first pictures? Are they scratches or just the reflection from the garage ceiling?

 

[CBR.worm]

I don't know what those marks are. They are not visible w/out the flash.

I can also spot a respray from a mile away typically. I have seen some good paint jobs recently and have begun to think that if I kept the sprayed area to the bumper and hood, and had them done off the car it might not be so bad - or at least better than it is now - and isolated to the two pieces. What I was really hoping for was to find an OE hood and OE bumper in the correct color, but every one I have seen is much worse than mine and still very expensive.

As for the tires, those didn't work out so well. They were OE size, overinflated to 40PSI (they were worse at lower pressures). The sidewalls were just too soft - they may work better on a lighter car. My previous 2 sets of tires had been Michelin PS2's which were awesome. These (Continental ExtremeContact DW) were much less expensive and rated by Tire Rack to be second only to the PS2's in dry grip for a summer performance tire. Needless to say I am now back to the Michelins, which at 32-34 PSI don't wear the lettering off the sides of the tires - or even barely the shoulder. I learned my lesson.

 

[asiancivicmaniac]

Originally Posted By: Vikas
What are those nasty marks on the driver side of the hood in the first pictures? Are they scratches or just the reflection from the garage ceiling?


They look like hologram trails or marring from improper wash technique or a dirty sponge/wash mitt.

 

[The Critic]

But to match color, my understanding is that you will sometimes need to blend the adjacent panels. Not sure if this will be the case here.

One of the most reputable shops around here quoted me $550 to spray a new bumper.

 

[CMMeadAM]

Believe it or not...that's cheap ! When you consider the labor
to prep an existing bumper cover for repainting, you're better off buying a new skin and painting that. Our "painter'...not really.....he's a complete and total ARTISAN, would charge about $875, and that includes a new skin.

And contrary to what some on this thread have stated " I can
spot a repaint a mile away".....well.....you CAN spot shlock
jobs, but not what a very select few are able to do.

 

[CMMeadAM]

Originally Posted By: CBR.worm
Here are a couple better (worse) pictures.

I would definitely want someone who could prep it right. I can tape stuff, but I can't fill or fix.



Done by a very high quality body shop/painter.....this would cost between $2500-3000 including the bumper.

 

[CBR.worm]

Hmmm. That's what I was afraid of. That's almost half the value of the car. And I think I would rather keep chipped OE paint than have a less than stellar repaint.

The only place that I have seen really good black paint jobs from is an hour south of me. I have been wanting to go down and get an estimate but never have time. They are not known for being particularly inexpensive. I have seen a Porsche Cayenne and BMW 7 series that they did really good work on.

I should save my money, the OE clutch surely can't last much longer.

 

[kkreit01]

Try Dr. Colorchip first. Much cheaper, and usually receives great reviews on the detail forums.

 

[Rocko1]

A repainted panel will never match the adjacent panels exactly. If you are as picky as you say you are I would avoid choosing to paint only the hood and front bumper. I also agree that blending panels is the industry standard but is quite obvious on most cars-it's the best attempt at not simply respraying the entire side and or car. 90% of people don't notice or care, the other 10% spot it from a mile away. I assume you are in the 10% as I am. I don't have an answer as to what is the best option only saying odds are even with a very competent body shop you will notice the resprayed panels.

 

[CBR.worm]

I think I'll try Dr. Colorchip and live with it.

I have tried OE touchup paint, but it does not stick to the aluminum hood. It looks good for a while, then falls off. It sticks to the old paint great though. I tried going over the edge onto the paint and the center of the touch-up spots came off with a well stuck ring to the oe paint.

 

[Rocko1]

Email them and ask why your paint is not sticking. It's in the prep-either primer or application. It's not that aluminum can't be touched up.

 

[HerrStig]

The curse of metallic paint and clearcoat. Very hard to match. The rest of the car fades under the clearcoat and can't be buffed back.

 

[Rocko1]

Originally Posted By: HerrStig
The curse of metallic paint and clearcoat. Very hard to match. The rest of the car fades under the clearcoat and can't be buffed back.


Metallic any paint, is extremely hard to match. Even factory paint jobs now a days look horrible. You can see where the gun has had inconsistent pressure-it leaves vertical stripes of darker/lighter areas. I can see this all over the road on new cars.

 

[Volvohead]

Our 855's hood got a bit like yours after 180k. The miles just add up.

Really good paint work is very expensive, there is no way around it. If you want it done right, expect to pay.

Several years back when we were having some other body work done on ours, I had them include the hood. It was only an extra $200, as they already had the paint mixed and the extra prep was not that much. But if it were just the hood, it would have been over $900 (Glasurit). The hood still perfectly matches the rest of the car (including the other areas repaired). You honestly cannot tell the car has been repainted.

Top grade auto paint is also very expensive. According to my shop, the very best paints are finally as durable as OEM. But you will pay dearly for them. Glasurit and Sikkens are the two my shop exclusively uses.

Metallic paints are hardest to blend because matching the lie of the metallic flakes to the surrounding panels is almost impossible. A really good gun man can get it very close, though. I'm told clearcoats are so prevalent now on all finishes that they are not the problem they once were.

While they have it, see if they will buff off those headlight cataracts.

 

[Vikas]

If you go with Dr Colorchip or Langka please take photos and provide the details of your efforts.