Full Respray Cost

[JP2021]

Not intending to get this done, but was having an interesting conversation with a friend regarding the cost to fully respray their Mk7 GTi. OK, their car does have some panels that if you look closely, do appear to have faded at different rates and also some scratches that are deeper than a t-cut can cure but not sure worth the whole car getting resprayed. Anyhow, has anyone here had a full respray or have any thoughts on the subject?

[SRGTD]

The cost would depend on the amount of prep work required and the quality of the respray. As the old saying goes, ‘you get what you pay for’.

I’d guess that for a full respray carried out by a top quality body shop you’d be looking at £3k or more - that’s just a guesstimate though. Depending on the age of the car, it might not make financial sense to spend that sort of money on a respray. Would other options such as a full 2 stage correction detail achieve an acceptable result? Might be worth speaking to a good professional detailer for their opinion before going down the full respray route.

[Carbon VW]

Hi there! there are many different ways to fully respray a car. you will find also that quotes will range massively from one company to another. The devil is in the detail for the quality of the job. A good shop will spend more time stripping the car of its trim, glass, lights etc than actually spraying the car. A bad shop will use miles of masking tape and you will get a sh!t finish that will flake off at the edges after a few months or when you hit it with a pressure washer. Also these trim pieces will be covered in overspray from a mask off job. I would say in Ireland id be expecting to pay around 5k euro for a full respray (same colour) with proper stripping of trim etc. Of course, if you wanted concourse condition, you can go down the rabbit hole of removing the engine etc to get all the engine bay.A partial respray might be a better idea if its only a few panels.
A full body wrap is also an option!

[Adam T7]

Hi there! there are many different ways to fully respray a car. you will find also that quotes will range massively from one company to another. The devil is in the detail for the quality of the job. A good shop will spend more time stripping the car of its trim, glass, lights etc than actually spraying the car. A bad shop will use miles of masking tape and you will get a sh!t finish that will flake off at the edges after a few months or when you hit it with a pressure washer. Also these trim pieces will be covered in overspray from a mask off job. I would say in Ireland id be expecting to pay around 5k euro for a full respray (same colour) with proper stripping of trim etc. Of course, if you wanted concourse condition, you can go down the rabbit hole of removing the engine etc to get all the engine bay.A partial respray might be a better idea if its only a few panels.
A full body wrap is also an option!

When I built a Caterham for my mate he had it wrapped in its racing colours, cost about £1500 ISTR (edit - it was £800.00). It was an incredibly fiddly job for the guys - took about a day and a half but looked awesome.

[Carbon VW]

Hi there! there are many different ways to fully respray a car. you will find also that quotes will range massively from one company to another. The devil is in the detail for the quality of the job. A good shop will spend more time stripping the car of its trim, glass, lights etc than actually spraying the car. A bad shop will use miles of masking tape and you will get a sh!t finish that will flake off at the edges after a few months or when you hit it with a pressure washer. Also these trim pieces will be covered in overspray from a mask off job. I would say in Ireland id be expecting to pay around 5k euro for a full respray (same colour) with proper stripping of trim etc. Of course, if you wanted concourse condition, you can go down the rabbit hole of removing the engine etc to get all the engine bay.A partial respray might be a better idea if its only a few panels.
A full body wrap is also an option!

When I built a Caterham for my mate he had it wrapped in its racing colours, cost about £1500 ISTR. It was an incredibly fiddly job for the guys - took about a day and a half but looked awesome.

WOW that does look unreal 

[Adam T7]

Didn’t look as good after a season’s racing😂

[willni]

How long is a piece of string?

Realistically if you want a good to high quality full respray done properly you're looking £6-8k.

You can obviously get cheaper or more expensive. I've seen cheap resprays that are full of fish eyes and even human hair...that car was fully re-done 4 times and still looks awful. You also have different price points of paint, glasurit being a more premium brand has additional costs.

In response to @SRGTD a detail can only do so much as you're removing material from a finite surface. In theory you could sand back the OEM finish to remove the majority of scratches, but you'd be left with a very thin clear coat to work with for future polishing efforts where you risk going through the lacquer and into the colour.

[SRGTD]

How long is a piece of string?

Realistically if you want a good to high quality full respray done properly you're looking £6-8k.

You can obviously get cheaper or more expensive. I've seen cheap resprays that are full of fish eyes and even human hair...that car was fully re-done 4 times and still looks awful. You also have different price points of paint, glasurit being a more premium brand has additional costs.

In response to @SRGTD a detail can only do so much as you're removing material from a finite surface. In theory you could sand back the OEM finish to remove the majority of scratches, but you'd be left with a very thin clear coat to work with for future polishing efforts where you risk going through the lacquer and into the colour.

My guess was a ‘little’ bit low then (goes to show that guessing isn’t the best idea )

I think ‘how long’s a piece of string’ sums it up nicely. IMHO the car’s owner also needs to balance the cost of a respray against the age and of the car and how much longer they intend keeping it. If it’s an early mk7 GTI then IMHO spending £6k on a respray doesn’t make good financial sense, and it might be better putting that £6k towards a newer car.

[JP2021]

It's a tricky call if you like the car and the only thing that significantly lets it down is the paintwork. Say you have a 10 year old Mk7 GTi, mechanically excellent but the paintwork is aweful, 5k+ for a full respray isn't financial good sense. I suppose it depends on if you look at your car as a daily drive/utility vehicle or a desirable drive that you just enjoy and want to keep, I guess it's emotional.

A wrap is an interesting way to go but I'd always be concerned about it's longevity, is that unfair?

Respraying the worse panels and keeping the rest original - would that work?

[willni]

My guess was a ‘little’ bit low then (goes to show that guessing isn’t the best idea )

I think ‘how long’s a piece of string’ sums it up nicely. IMHO the car’s owner also needs to balance the cost of a respray against the age and of the car and how much longer they intend keeping it. If it’s an early mk7 GTI then IMHO spending £6k on a respray doesn’t make good financial sense, and it might be better putting that £6k towards a newer car.

I was viewing a £3-4k full respray today on an Evo, the painter has given money back to not have to deal with the imperfections, including lots of heavy sanding marks, cracks in the paint, paint burn through etc. The owner is very unhappy with the finish to say the least.

I think many of our ideas of 'a rough quote', are still from the 2010's, as back then you'd get a good / great respray for £3-4k.

I totally agree with you, a full respray only makes sense if you're planning on keeping a car for life in my opinion. If the cars in such a state of needing a respray at this age I'd question the care of it and if bought recently ask the purchaser if they've been to Specsavers recently.