To Paint or Not To Paint?

Hello Folks,

In general, is it worth the cost and effort to have a car painted before you try to sell it? i.e., is the cost generally recovered? What has been your experience?

Thank you very much for any thoughts, David

Reply to
David
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Nope. Any sophisticated buyer will think you are hiding something with the paint job.

Reply to
Art

How bad is the paint, and have you tried buffing?

A good Detail shop will charge from $65 for a buffing to $150 for buffing, cleaning, waxing and going over tha carpets with an Extractor. Make sure they have an Extractor and NOT a 'shampooer'. BIG difference!

This would probably be more worth the money. Unless you're selling it for

8-10,000 dollars, a decent paint job will cost $1500-2400, and and "Earl Scheib" paint job will lokk horrible.
Reply to
Hachiroku

The answer really depends on the condition of the factory paint job, the quality of the re-paint job, and the particular vehicle

If the factory paint is just faded, a good quality polish or cleaner followed by a good quality wax can probably make it look like new again. If there are just a few nicks or scratches, a good body shop can touch up the affected areas instead of repainting the entire vehicle.

A good quality re-paint of the entire vehicle will probably cost well over a thousand dollars, which you probably will not recover when you sell the vehicle. A cheap paint job will look like a cheap paint job and probably detract from the vehicle's value, unless the car was trashed to start with.

Reply to
Ray O

Thank you very much for your replies.

You have convinced me that painting it really doesn't make sense. Although it is in very good shape, it is only an '88 Mazda MX6, so the cost of a quality paint job in the price range that you are talking would surely not be recoverable. And my own personal ethics won't permit a cheap paint job.

The existing factory paint is really not that bad. There are no dings, but there are a few small scratches. Specifically, what is troubling me is that there are some pin-stripes, which are flaking badly with age. If I only buff and wax they will look pretty bad (worse) afterwards. Should I just do it anyway?

But then my second concern is that the new owner may say, these pin-stripes look so bad that I need to re-paint the car. But if I have it waxed, won't that adversely affect his ability to have it painted?

You can tell that I haven't had any experience with these kinds of things, so any advice is greatly appreciated.

Thank you again, David

Reply to
David

Hachiroku, could you please elaborate a bit on this?

Thank you, David

Reply to
David

It's a 1988 MX6. I doubt it's a rare or collectible car, and nobody expects an 19 year old car to be perfect. An 18 year old car that looks pretty good and runs well is doing GREAT!

For a car like that, the selling price between an average condition example (compared to other 19 year old cars) and a spotless example, will rarely be more than a few hundred bucks. It's still an 19 year old MX6, without modern safety, style, and convenience features, no matter how shiny it is. Did I mention it's 19 years old?

Get it spotlessly clean, wax it, and sell it to the private party who will give you the most money. In my area, a pro detailer will do all the hard work for $85-100. You can do it yourself for ~ $25 in special supplies (rubbing compounds and wax), some household cleaning supplies (409 or Fantastik, glass cleaner, rags, paper towels, and your vacuum cleaner) and a few hours of hard, Karate Kid-style muscle work. You'll have enough supplies left over for other cars.

There is no way, no how, a dealership of any kind is going to have any interest in that car, unless they're totally hosing you on the purchase of the replacement. This will be a true private party to private party sale.

Don't worry about future repaints, pinstripes, etc... If the next owner really wants to do that, either he or is body shop will deal with it. Freshly waxed cars get hit and repaired every day, the people who need to know have the knowledge to deal with it.

Good luck!

Reply to
Bonehenge

There are 2 ways to apply pin stripes: paint and tape.

Most modern pin stripes are tape, and if the stripes on your car are flaking off, they may be tape. You can re-stripe the car pretty easily with a little practice or have an auto accessory or body shop re-stripe for you. Waxing the car will not adverseley affect a re-paint because a good body shop will strip the wax before painting. If you want to apply tape pin stripe, you should wipe the area with rubbing alcohol to strip off any wax and road film.

Painting pin strips takes more skill and is best left to someone with experience.

Good luck!

Reply to
Ray O

With a Shapooer, you put some kind of soapy or foamy mixture on the carpet, usually rub it around either with the brush or the shampoo machine, and then suck it up vacuum style. The 'scrubbing' action breaks down the fibers of the carpet, and actually has a tendancy to push the dirt further into the carpet rather than lift it out.

An extractor is a bit of a different beast. A good shop will pre spray the carpeting and upholstery (BTW, why isn't it pronounced "ufolstery? ;) with something that loosens the dirt, and then you use the extractor on it. The big difference is the extractor doesn't have a brush on it, so you're not moving the dirt around. It sprays a soapy (and usually warm) mixture into the carpet and almost immediately lifts it out.

You would think this is nothing more than a glorified vacuum cleaner, but it WORKS! They are amazing.

The clostedt thing you can buy for home is a Bissel 'Green machine'. Similar idea, and you can use warm water in it, but it's not the same. I did my Supra with one when I bought it, and it came out real clean, but it's a small machine and the carpeting was in very good shape to begin with.

A professional extractor generally runs $2,500 - 7,000 dollars. I was selling used cars at a place where the boss rented a bay to a friend that wanted to start a detailing shop, and he got one of the $7,000 machines. But, boy, would it clean! Even if the carpet had grease or oil, as long as it wasn't POUNDED into the carpet it would lift it out. I went to work for a Toyota dealer, and we had one of the ones for about $2,500 and I did the interior of my '85 Celica. The Master clutch cylinder had probably been leaking for years, and while it didn't get it out 100%, it made a very noticable difference.

Reply to
Hachiroku

Thank you very much guys. You *all* have given me some great tips and guidance! I now know what to do -- with assurance.

Best regards, and stay well, David

Reply to
David

Always glad to answer ON Topic questions once in a while! ;)

Reply to
Hachiroku

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