I understand where everyone is concerned....I decided to call Maaco and the local body shop who gave me my quotes. Maaco mind you just did a rough estimate without seeing the truck, so the number I give is not a definite amount. I also asked both places how many coats of primer, base, and clear that they use, typical time to prep for them, brand of paint, and type of paint. I also asked Maaco their labor fee's but the guy wouldn't answer that question without beating around the bush. The estimated cost for Maaco starts at $4500
Maaco told me(I think his name was Carl)that they use 1 coat of primer, 2 coats of base, and 1 coat of clear. They wouldn't give me a brand name on the paint they use, but it is water based. Typical tear down for them is between 1-8hrs(not sure why such a time gap). As far as the labor prices go, he just said every shop is different.
Rick at my local shop- He uses 2 coats primer, 3 coats base, and 2-3 coats of clear. He uses PPG brand paint which is also water based. Typical complete tear down can take a day or two, day 3 they double check their tear down and start planning out the prepping, which for them can be a few hours to a few days depending on the size of the vehicle(He paints semi trucks too) and type of paint job, with custom taking longer. He purchases his paint from PPG in large amounts so he can get a wholesale price, which helps keep the material prices down. He charges a flat rate for his labor which depends on the size of the vehicle. 4 door vehicles start at $800 and larger vehicles will cost more. His labor price for me is $1200.00 no tax if I pay in cash. His typical labor price for a semi truck is $2500 plus materials run a bit more as most truckers do some type of custom color or design.
I told him I had a few concerned friends because the price seems to be just to good to be true. He flat out told me that he does NOT need to keep the shop open in order to live a financially stable life, he runs the shop because he enjoys doing his job, and because he enjoys his motorcycles and money to throw away in them. The money he makes goes back into the shop to help pay bills like electricity for the shop, replace materials such as tape, plastic, sand paper, etc...He is able to not charge so much because he has no employee's to pay, it is him and his brother that own, run, and work at the shop. His brother does the major custom paint jobs and designs so when someone orders a customized job or design they pay for both him and his brothers time, and materials can get extremely pricey with custom work. He said a custom color such as cotton candy pink can run upwards of $300-$400 for paint alone, where as he can get basic colors like black, white, red etc....for wholesale price because it is used more often, and if he doesn't see a return in paint prices from one paint job using black, once he paints 3-4 cars, the paint would be more than paid for. The pink however is rarely used, and the can could sit in his shop for a year or more, or even get thrown away at some point, so his customers will pay full price on the cost of any custom color paint.
So, I hope this clears a few questions up for some. I have plenty of time for more questions before I bring the truck in. I do appreciate everyone being concerned, and I value everyone's opinion, questions and outlook on this, I am still considering having him paint my truck. Sometimes a good offer is a good offer, and sometimes you get raped. I guess people don't understand my concerns, My truck is in HORRIBLE condition paint wise, and if I don't do anything about it, eventually I will have no clear, and no paint left on the fender and door....in that scenario I'm looking at my truck who has VERY little rust to begin with, turning into a complete rust bucket in very possibly a short amount of time. I could use touch up paint, but it just masks the issue, and doesn't fix anything. With 6 kids, trying to buy a home, nursing school, and other things, I cannot afford to drop 10k into a paint job right now, and I'm not sure when I will be able to or if I ever will be able to. If I just sit here and let the truck go to shit, I will be in a much harder boat, because I will have to eventually replace my truck, something I don't want to do.
Call me a whiner, I don't care lol I just want my truck to be better. If a shitty $1600 paint job can get me through the next 5-7 years, by then I will either be in a newer Envoy or have the 10k saved up for a good paint job. No amount of touch up paint(SMALL ass bottles) will keep up with the severe peeling this truck has. By this time next year, I may not have clear or paint on my fender. Sometimes you just have to do what you have to do, and accept what you can and cannot afford. And right now, there is no way in hell I can afford a 10k paint job.
