I did a little video walk around of my cheap respray. If I could share one piece of advice it's to not go with your cheapest quotes. I got 3 other quotes that were over 3k. Don't expect an edited perfect video. I made this video just to show what a $1500 respray looks like. Let me first say that I am happy with the overall outcome. Would I go back? Probably not. I feel most of the flaws are from the prep work. The painter is the owner of the shop and he has guys that just do prep work and polishing. It is on the painter to do a final check before he actually puts the car in the booth, so both ends of the work need improvement. I almost took on all the work myself and was going to rent a booth for a day. A guy I work with used to own a shop and spray cars for a living said he enjoys projects like that. That's probably the route I'll take next time.

 

These covercraft sunshades are top notch with the custom fit. Fits so perfect I don't even have to flip the visors down to hold it up

 

For $1500, some of this (well most of it) is to be expected. Luckily you can go back and fix most of the stuff yourself, but thats probably not what you were expecting when you paid for the service. I have seen Maaco jobs of this quality tho, so hopefully the paint itself is better than the 2-year special Maaco paint. The thing that pisses me off the most are those waves in the bumper..is that a karuma defect or the body shop dude? Ugh, its awful. All in all, id say it was a fair price and as long as you're willing to put in a bit of cleanup work, should look pretty decent in the end.

Just a little tip for the future tho, always try to make friends with people who work on your car. Visit them a few times before you jump in, ask questions, let them talk about themselves to boost their ego and let them tell you what they're capable of. Once they see you as a buddy more than a customer you'll get the best work at the best price and they'll take care of you like crazy. Then if they screw something up you'll be able to hold them accountable against their own sworn ability.

 

He probably assembled the whole car then masked and paint so after painting it he doesn't have to assemble it

The pinstripes have to be removed down to the metal just like key marks or they will come out again

The stickers are time consuming (If you don't have a heat gun) and it's down to the bottom he probably got lazy to get one he's knees and start peeling it :x


If its gummy/sticky on the window strip moldings he left the tape on to long only way i found to fix it is scuff them clean then respray with trim black

There's no way to avoid overspray on that small window it has to be removed. The rubber is to close to the edge


Take off the emblem and remove the gorilla glue and just use 3m double sided tape and a blade to trace it out

The metallic not laid out right is because he doesn't know how to paint. Not any person can spray silver.. silver is the hardest to spray right before candy

The clear coat looks good it looks like he wet sanded and buffed it

Look at car during the day but in the shade if you see any patches or stripes.


Bring it to Los angeles

Just remove the headlights,tail lights and small windows I'll respray it for $600

But the price isn't that bad if he had to try and modify the bumper to fit. If the clear doesn't fade or flake after 2 years I'll say you got a good deal

 

I was thinking that same thing about him actually doing some body work. Almost like he meant to do a good job but didn't have the experience.

 

The body work is everything
And more expensive than painting

 

100%

 

The guy who painted the car is a family friend I know through my uncle who is his lawyer. I've met him at a few parties and talked to him a bit before I finally took my car to him. My uncle was defending him because Bentley actually sued him because he was taking a chrysler sebring or 300 and stripping it down and rebuilding it with molded panels to turn it into a bentley replica. I believe the trouble came from using the actually bentley logos and possibly selling the car as an actual bentley. He used to have his own tv show like a pimp my ride knock off. The type of work he does is not my type of taste in a car. I asked him if he had ever worked on a g35 before and he showed me a picture with about 32" rims on a coupe. I offered my free labor and told him I could take everything off and put it all back together and hopefully learn a thing or two. But, he said it wouldn't make a difference in the outcome. Let me say that he had my car for almost 2 months also. I went wrong and told him I had my brothers car while he was training in the army so that didn't help me out. I really thought the 2 months of having my car would result in a pretty quality job because he knew of my inconvenience. I just wish I could have done it myself with a coworker. I'd rather make the mistakes myself and learn from them. The car also wasn't polished. I thought that was pretty standard to polish a car before returning it

 

The passenger side window trim looks tacky from old plasti dip. I plan to remove that soon. I found that tire shine on the driver side trim brings it back to life for at least a few weeks through pouring down rain

 

How bulky is it when it is folded up? Where do you put it when it is not in the windshield?

 

If its not in my window its usually on the passenger floor. Folds up thin and they sell a storage bag I wish I woulda bought as well. I use it too often to keep it in the back unless I have a passenger with me.