$250 to get my sideskirts painted. Am I getting ripped off?

[tsunami0ne]

A body shop wants $250 to paint my sideskirts dark purple, is that a good deal? Right now I dont feel like going out of town to get some more estimates.

My sideskirts are sort of big; they are basically NISMO knockoffs of the '95-96 style sideskirts.

[sykikchimp]

Are they going to install them too?

[tsunami0ne]

no, but they tried to charge me $1000 to fit it.... good thing i didnt let them because it fit OK with a little hammering.

[Nismos14]

what the #### thats some ridiculous pricing im gonna be scared to see how much they want to paint my front lip

[Arcane]

i'd pay that price if they were going to install them also..

[200sx]

Dude... that is insane... buy a few spray cans of good paint (and primer) and do it yourself!  There is no way it will cost $250 to spray  2 skirts!  You're getting screwed if you pay that much!!!   Just find an enclosed space (garadge, or basement whatever) and do it your self man... save your $$$ for more important stuf like enigne upgrades and .. whatever!

[-E-]

I think thats too much do what 200sx posted

[tsunami0ne]

Gee I dunno, my purple color would be EXTREMELY hard to emulate with spray cans...

[-E-]

THEN JUST SHOP AROUND SEE HOW HAS A BETTER PRICE

[silvia240]

You must understand also that it depends on how good of a job they are going to do the the side skirts.  You can easly find cheeper places but they do crappy jobs.  Around san diego, if you want a good paint job (that i know of) it costs anywhere from 200 too 400 dollars.  And yes... that is hella expensive.

[BlankFlip]

seriously, that's not a "bad" price. i'm sure it will flow right w/ the body if u get it done there. it's gonna cost me $300 to get my trunk holes fixed n have the trunk n rear bumper painted. u get what u pay for, ESPECIALLY w/ paint jobs.

[TurDz]

I got quoted $350 to paint a trunk lid...no body work! just pearl white paint!

if anyone can find me a good deal in norcal...let me know :(

[ZK]

I paid $200 to have my side skirts painted the original OE color. Installation was bolt-on for me though. Good paint jobs aren't cheap! You generally get what you pay for. Check out some of their other jobs and see if they do a good job.

[bing]

u guys are crazy...

these shops are either at capacity or have no respect for you guys.

here in ontario canada i refferred friends to a shop that took a S13 hatch, shaved the wiper and 3rd brake like and painted it oem forrest green all for $300 CAD.

the work was good too.

painted skirts should be a $150 job at most. MAYBE $250 if they are mounting them properly. it takes less than an hour to do that.

[tsunami0ne]

oh how the past has come back to haunt me. =]

[justinhustle]

I got quoted $350 to paint a trunk lid...no body work! just pearl white paint!

if anyone can find me a good deal in norcal...let me know :(

a 2 yr old thread on a useless topic??

:bowdown: to the moronking!

[KOUKI KA-T]

And candybars only cost a nickle back when this thread was started...

[Andrew Bohan]

i think the paint cost so much because that's when painting was first invented. it was new technology.

[BoroBoroS13]

$250 is a lot to paint some side skirts IMHO. $150 sounds more like a fair price to me...

[Ritz S14]

$250 is a lot to paint some side skirts IMHO. $150 sounds more like a fair price to me...

It really depends on the color. Dct223 got his side skirts painted stock BLACK along with a 96 grill for $100. Another body shop wants $250 to paint my navan bumper pearl white.

[TurDz]

a 2 yr old thread on a useless topic??

:bowdown: to the moronking!

i had no idea this thread was this old...i didn't even use a search or anything. it was really high up in the general chat pages. maybe 2 at the oldest. I dunno what happened. so chill out guys

[zero.counter]

If it is an OEM STOCK color, then anything past $75 could not be justified. If it is a specialty color, no more than $150 for some skirts. For example, OEM black matches up with high temp ceramic high gloss paint available from autozone, along with a couple of cans of primer sealer, an assorted pack of wetsand grits from 1000+, and a couple of cans of clear coat. If you have the experience an patience, the job can be done with professional quality results in under a couple of hours (give or take time for drying) and under $50.

[KOUKI KA-T]

If it is an OEM STOCK color, then anything past $75 could not be justified. If it is a specialty color, no more than $150 for some skirts. For example, OEM black matches up with high temp ceramic high gloss paint available from autozone, along with a couple of cans of primer sealer, an assorted pack of wetsand grits from 1000+, and a couple of cans of clear coat. If you have the experience an patience, the job can be done with professional quality results in under a couple of hours (give or take time for drying) and under $50.

That's not right. The cost of the paint alone to do my sides was over 100$, it's OEM deep Fuschia, (purple with a pearl)
Also many fiberglass body pieces on the market are very porous and require a lot of prep work to have a decent paint job and not have an assload of little pinholes and fisheyes. 250$ in not unreasonable at all if you want quality work.

[zero.counter]

That's not right. The cost of the paint alone to do my sides was over 100$, it's OEM deep Fuschia, (purple with a pearl)
Also many fiberglass body pieces on the market are very porous and require a lot of prep work to have a decent paint job and not have an assload of little pinholes and fisheyes. 250$ in not unreasonable at all if you want quality work.
I totally disagree with your misunderstanding. If you are not professionally familiar with the process and only go by what the bodymen say, then you are making an assumption. It reminds me of how a computer tech can take advantage of the elderly man just trying to receive pictures of his grandchildren (the internet being the means for transmission or lack therof), and the tech tells him that the reason he cannot access the internet is because he needs a new motherboard and hard drive and needs to be upgraded to the newest OS and that labor for doing all of the would be at least 3 hours at $75hr, not including parts. The old guy does not know anything about this techno-babble the tech speaks of and agrees. Then when he is playing poker with his 67+ year old comrades, one guy says, "you know, I cannot get pr0n on my computer anymore but everything else works fine", (the guy know nothing about computers), and the original victim refers the pr0n freak to the swindling tech because he was never educated on what the real problem was. In other words, don't believe everything you hear just because of the source. Get educated in what is being discussed for your own sake and others as well. I will explain the "lack" of understanding on the paint subject just ahead.

You stated "MANY", obviously not including all. Now that I typed that, we can move on with the point of my response. First of all, shop around if you are going to have it done. Name brands are not always the best, and neither is, "my dad's, friend's, uncle's, cousin's, sister said that he was the best". The primer/sealer is for removing the cat claws and pinholes that may arise. The sandpaper is for smooting out. And I think you know what the paint is for, right? I gave a specific example, BLACK, oem that is. How much more professional can a job get it there is a deep luster, no signs of cat claws or pinholes, no overspray, no orange peeling, and the entire surface is smooth as glass? I guess that maybe there are those $4k jobs, and the guys are entering their cars in the Tokyo Auto Salon, but otherwise, it's about as pro as anyone can get. You can buy a premade apple pie, or you can make it from scratch. You can design and build your own house or you can buy it pre-made. You can call a plumber for a clogged sink, or you can buy liquid drano. You can swap your own motor, or loose tons of money paying some other guy to do it and never learn much about your car. The point here is that just because some guy went to community college or an equivalent and learned how to paint with a gravity fed gun or use the old hammer and dolley or the mechanical sheet metal shaper ("hammer" as we like to call it), does not mean that their job will be better than someone's who took the time to learn and practice to perfect their painting skills. Just like anything you yourself do, like attending school or getting that homemade BBQ sauce down to perfection.

[SimpleS14]

i had no idea this thread was this old...i didn't even use a search or anything. it was really high up in the general chat pages. maybe 2 at the oldest. I dunno what happened. so chill out guys

maybe someone posted before you and deleted their post

[MakotoS13]

$250 is a fair price for having sideskirts painted.


take it to maaco and have the paint flake off in six months but it'll totally be cheaper.

[2JZGTE]

I totally disagree with your misunderstanding. If you are not professionally familiar with the process and only go by what the bodymen say, then you are making an assumption. It reminds me of how a computer tech can take advantage of the elderly man just trying to receive pictures of his grandchildren (the internet being the means for transmission or lack therof), and the tech tells him that the reason he cannot access the internet is because he needs a new motherboard and hard drive and needs to be upgraded to the newest OS and that labor for doing all of the would be at least 3 hours at $75hr, not including parts. The old guy does not know anything about this techno-babble the tech speaks of and agrees. Then when he is playing poker with his 67+ year old comrades, one guy says, "you know, I cannot get pr0n on my computer anymore but everything else works fine", (the guy know nothing about computers), and the original victim refers the pr0n freak to the swindling tech because he was never educated on what the real problem was. In other words, don't believe everything you hear just because of the source. Get educated in what is being discussed for your own sake and others as well. I will explain the "lack" of understanding on the paint subject just ahead.

You stated "MANY", obviously not including all. Now that I typed that, we can move on with the point of my response. First of all, shop around if you are going to have it done. Name brands are not always the best, and neither is, "my dad's, friend's, uncle's, cousin's, sister said that he was the best". The primer/sealer is for removing the cat claws and pinholes that may arise. The sandpaper is for smooting out. And I think you know what the paint is for, right? I gave a specific example, BLACK, oem that is. How much more professional can a job get it there is a deep luster, no signs of cat claws or pinholes, no overspray, no orange peeling, and the entire surface is smooth as glass? I guess that maybe there are those $4k jobs, and the guys are entering their cars in the Tokyo Auto Salon, but otherwise, it's about as pro as anyone can get. You can buy a premade apple pie, or you can make it from scratch. You can design and build your own house or you can buy it pre-made. You can call a plumber for a clogged sink, or you can buy liquid drano. You can swap your own motor, or loose tons of money paying some other guy to do it and never learn much about your car. The point here is that just because some guy went to community college or an equivalent and learned how to paint with a gravity fed gun or use the old hammer and dolley or the mechanical sheet metal shaper ("hammer" as we like to call it), does not mean that their job will be better than someone's who took the time to learn and practice to perfect their painting skills. Just like anything you yourself do, like attending school or getting that homemade BBQ sauce down to perfection.


Great post zero. It's too bad painting is so in depth or more people would probably tackle it themselves. The compressors needed to spray paint with must be at least 5HP if I'm not mistaken. I am slowly trying to learn all the painting fundamentals, but the one thing I haven't gotten to practice yet is spraygun and boothtime. I've had lots of spraycan practice though :cool:

You mentioned a good point about other people doing work on our own cars. Just because a shop can fix your car, doesn't mean it will be better than you doing it yourself. I have learned the best work on my car has been my own work, because I care about it more than some shop worker who just wants to go to lunch.

PS- SR20DET engine removal can be done by yourself with no help at all, start to finish. The tranny can be unbolted and picked up easily by one person.

Billy