How much should it cost to respray a Caterham?

[SpeedFreakDave]

Just thinking it through really. Mine is in good condition but has a lot of front end stone chips and I fancied a freshen up and putting on some form of better paint protection like Paintshield or is there some form of paintgel (someone mentioned that once). Also, if I changed the colour would that be an issue on resale? Surely this can be quite common on such cars? Any suggestions on colour schemes would be great. It is mainly a track car, full cage plus aeroscreen.

Cheers

Dave

[S47]

Why not DIY - cost will be ~£100 or less depending on where you buy the paint.
IMO £250 max if you have it done professionally, and remove and clean up the wings yourself. Anymore and you're being ripped off, coz 7's are simply to spray, with only a small surface area to cover in expensiveish paint.

[Eric Mc]

S47 said:

Why not DIY - cost will be ~£100 or less depending on where you buy the paint.
IMO £250 max if you have it done professionally, and remove and clean up the wings yourself. Anymore and you're being ripped off, coz 7's are simply to spray, with only a small surface area to cover in expensiveish paint.

Various bits are usually removed before respraying - front and rear wings - windscreen, wing mirrors etc.

So, not as straightforward as you might think.

[SpeedFreakDave]

If I did it myself it would look awful. I am know my weaknesses and this is a big no go for me! 600 + VAT was suggested.

[Mkindy]

I paid 800+VAT including all wings and a central stripe this was a new car from bare aluminium. From memory the paint made quite a difference to cost and I picked a fancy Orange/Red (pearlescent or something).

[SpeedFreakDave]

How do you protect from stonechips?

[S47]

Spraying really ain't that difficult, it's all in the prep of the wings etc. If your car is new then it really is a doddle, and it's a good feeling when people ask where you had the car sprayed and you tell 'em - 'I did it myself'
£800 + Vat is simply a bad jokeIMO whatever the colour you've chosen:-(
I'd get another quote, if the Sprayshop don't want or need your business the price reflects that.
Or maybe you 've got 'muggins' stamped on you forehead - JOKE JOKE - no offence mean't

[ForzaGilles]

Surely the state of the car makes quite a difference, i.e stripped and ready to spray, or just driven in off the street.

[Chris71]

This is quite encouraging - I thought a decent car respray was usually into four figures? Granted there is a bit less to spray on a Seven.

If I did mine I was thinking I'd do anything that's idiot proof - rubbing down the original paint and maybe sticking a bit of filler on, removing the wings etc perhaps - then driving it round to the paint shop.

Do Caterham stripes cost extra?

[Incorrigible]

It depends on whether you want it painted, or whether you want it stripped, repaired, painted, reassembled etc etc

For instance we always remove the scuttle as they could usually do with a tidy up, you'd definitely want this done if you're changing colour (you won't get coverage under the scuttle at the top of the dash otherwise )

FWIW we charge £550. That's including stripping and re-fitting (drive it in drive it away) but that's not including wings

[tony wright]

How much of a difference in cost if there were a few dings and dents to smooth out?

[BertBert]

So who does it for 250 then? I'm finding that quite hard to believe!

Even 550 sounds a good deal.

Bert

[ForzaGilles]

Incorrigible said:

It depends on whether you want it painted, or whether you want it stripped, repaired, painted, reassembled etc etc

For instance we always remove the scuttle as they could usually do with a tidy up, you'd definitely want this done if you're changing colour (you won't get coverage under the scuttle at the top of the dash otherwise )

FWIW we charge £550. That's including stripping and re-fitting (drive it in drive it away) but that's not including wings

That does seem a good price. I was of the understanding that a drive in/drive out job was about £800-£900.

[Incorrigible]

tony wright said:

How much of a difference in cost if there were a few dings and dents to smooth out?

it depends on how my and how long it takes to fix

[Incorrigible]

ForzaGilles said:

That does seem a good price. I was of the understanding that a drive in/drive out job was about £800-£900.

A couple of things to note;

1. That's a no-frills paint job, don't expect a concourse mirror finish

2. This was a seasonal special, not quite a loss leader, but one to keep us busy and get new custom over the winter

3. These prices won't be around for ever........

[Mkindy]

S47 said:

Spraying really ain't that difficult, it's all in the prep of the wings etc. If your car is new then it really is a doddle, and it's a good feeling when people ask where you had the car sprayed and you tell 'em - 'I did it myself'
£800 + Vat is simply a bad jokeIMO whatever the colour you've chosen:-(
I'd get another quote, if the Sprayshop don't want or need your business the price reflects that.
Or maybe you 've got 'muggins' stamped on you forehead - JOKE JOKE - no offence mean't

So spend 25 - 30K on a car and get a cheap paint job for 250 quid, Muggins here is happy to pay someone £800 that knows what they are doing and sprays caterhams for a living.

[S47]

Another factor to consider is whereabouts in the Uk you go to get it sprayed. the prices I quoted above are for S Wales where there's plenty of sprayshops for sensible money. I suggest the London Area or S east are probably the worst offenders for Overcharging/Ripping you off.

[croftsj]

Tony the brush at TSK, budget £1200 & you might even see some change.

Go & look at his work or ask a customer of Tony if they'd take it anywhere else. I'm a customer & he turned a very ratty Aztec Orange R300 like this..........





Via this



And this



Into this Porsche GT3 RS Orange R300

[sam919]

S47 said:

Why not DIY - cost will be ~£100 or less depending on where you buy the paint.
IMO £250 max if you have it done professionally, and remove and clean up the wings yourself. Anymore and you're being ripped off, coz 7's are simply to spray, with only a small surface area to cover in expensiveish paint.

Done many decent caterham re-sprays lately?........no didt think so

Edited by sam919 on Thursday 25th March 05:16

Edited by sam919 on Thursday 25th March 05:18

[V7SLR]

I've sprayed a few cars in the past and the results have been fantastic (4 cars IIRC), and of course very cost effective. It also makes you critical of many paint jobs turned out by some of the big manufacturers when you know just what can be achieved with a little care and attention. I also had some nastly experiences with 2-pack paint in the process!

Would I spray one now? ..... NO!

My garage is now set up with nice flooring, nice bench, nice toolkit, and I don't intend to get paint dust in every nook and cranny as always happens however careful you are. It's not the prep and painting of the car that is a concern - it's having the right environment to do it in.

Strip the bits off yourself and spend the time you have refurbing everything whilst a proffessional gets on with the painting!

Stu.

Edited by V7SLR on Thursday 25th March 07:55