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The Auto Painting Tips Newsletter
With Chris Curwen & Expert Auto Painter - Dave Gage (Car Cosmetics) Sept 25th, 2007 - Issue 22 In this issue:
Besides questioning which car paint color to paint your car or truck, possibly the biggest question you can ask yourself is, "Should I paint my car myself or hire an auto body shop to do the work for me?" For me, Chris Curwen, the decision to paint my car was easy; I didn't want to claim the cost of the repairs back from my car insurance company and therefore loose my zero claims bonus nor did I want to hire an auto body shop and pay their sky-high repair prices. It was obvious to me that if I was to paint my car myself, I could save a fortune overall. Before you make a start on any paint job and possibly get into a little difficulty, we suggest that you first find out what your choices are and what they will cost you. If you wish to have your daily vehicle painted, but you find that you don't have the proper car painting equipment or more importantly the necessary time, you may be far better off to have the work done by an auto body shop. If your heart is not in your paint job, your end result will show this to be the case. However, whether it is your daily vehicle or a project vehicle you may be planning to work on, by subscribing to 'Auto Painting Tips' and showing an interest in our website, you must have at least a more than uncertain interest in learning how to paint a car. If you are willing to purchase, rent or even borrow the proper car painting equipment (for paint application and safety) and give yourself the time and work area to make your investment worthwhile, we both highly encourage you to just go for it! Whether your project consists of straightening or replacing a panel, painting rims or a complete car respray and color change, to paint your car through your own creativity to a high level will no doubt greatly boost your self-confidence and esteem. Again, before you dive in, consult with those in the industry at auto paint stores and at your local auto body shop to get a better feel for what your specific paint job will involve. In addition to giving yourself that welcome confidence boost, to paint your car alone or with the help of friends will enable you to save up to 90% on auto body shop labor charges. Indeed, this was the single most important reason why we developed www.LearnAutoPainting.com; we wanted to make it possible for anybody to learn how to paint a car to a professional level and therefore save a fortune on repair bills. We both highly recommend you to read our full list of benefits that you will receive by investing in our solution: How to Paint a Car - The System. Automobile owners with little knowledge of auto painting are often surprised at the cost of a quality paint job and why one auto body shop can paint cars for as little as $99.95 while another might charge around $6,000 or more for an extremely high quality paint job. There is no real limit for the price of a paint job, as the labor involved will vary greatly, depending on what you need to have done. Be expected to pay around $50-55/hour just for labor at an auto body shop and with this in mind I think you can now understand why some places charge less than others; they spend far less time making sure they do a great job for you. Always remember that you will get what you pay for. An auto body shop who specializes in cheap paint jobs cannot afford to spend a lot of time preparing or masking your car. Their business relies purely on the volume of cars that they can get through each week. Obviously, the more cars they paint, the more money they will make. Therefore, sanding and masking work is minimal. Close inspection of vehicles that have been repainted by inexpensive auto body shops generally reveals overspray throughout the repair area such as on emblems, badges and window trim all thanks to minimal masking. Rough surface areas may receive a quick once over with sandpaper, but extra time cannot be allocated for thorough sanding and feathering requirements. Inexpensive auto body shops are forced to buy their supplies in bulk quantities. Color choices are usually limited to the colors on hand in 55-gallon barrels. Shops like these will even buy out paint manufacturers' supplies of discontinued colors at huge discounts. They then pass this saving on to their customers. An auto body shop that specializes in overall quality and customer satisfaction is vastly different from such high-volume shops. You will have to pay a lot more for their service, simply because they will take far longer and far greater care over your vehicle. The end result will be a high-quality, durable and long lasting paint job. The amount of prep work involved is what raises the price of an automotive paint job. This prep work is what characterizes the final quality and longevity of the paint job too. It is very important to remember this whether you are planning to paint your car or hire a professional. Now, we're not saying that you should attempt to respray your vehicle if you happen to be driving around in an $70,000 Mercedes-Benz. That would be a little too risky even for the most open minded. What we are saying is that if you drive around in a vehicle worth far less than $70,000 and you don't want to be faced with a repair bill of around $2000-3000, you have the option of saving a fortune if you're prepared to get your hands a little dirty and have a go yourself. So why not get started learning how to paint a car from a VW Group approved vehicle repair center today. ******************************************************************************** That's all we have for you this week. Thank you very much for reading. We both hope this issue has been of valued interest to you. COMING NEXT ISSUE: We cover Auto Paint Stores. Happy Painting! Chris Curwen & Dave Gage www.LearnAutoPainting.com © 2007 LearnAutoPainting.com |