Paint both fenders for $350?

My car is in the shop having it's bumper and hood painted thru my insurance claim. The body shop asked if I wanted the fenders sanded and repainted to rid of the rock chips. Would you say yes or decline and why?

Hey, how old is your car? Looks like a 2000 or 2001. I would fight the insurance company and try to get the fenders painted too. I mean, if you're painting the hood you should really pain the fenders too and get the fenders and the hood blended to color match.

Have to agree as well. But, $350 for painting of the fenders is REALLY cheap. Why so cheap? That would throw up red flags for me. Are they just charging for materials?

I have a 2000, and it was a fight to get the hood done. Think about it, I ran over a tire retread, the battle over the hood is what had my car sitting at the shop for an extra week.. I'm doing the best I can man...

I asked what the paint process is at that point he indicated that they will slowly sand the paint down on some machince so as not to warp anything blah blah blah.. we can't just spray over the chips because eventually the paint will pit into the chip indents...yada yada yada. Also, I assume it's cheap because they can probably get the paint all for 1 price since they have to paint the hood and bumper. My thought is, why waste it(extra paint) when we can get another $350 bucks for it off this $1,700 paint job.

I say paint it. The price is right. I think you will regret it if you don't.

Oh hell, why not paint the WHOLE CAR for $199? $350 is way too low for the right amount of labor involved. I'd be a bit cautious.

I'd do it but only if the shop will prep it (and it certainly sounds like they are doing it). If this is a repuatable shop, I would not hesitate. If this shop is used by your local Porsche dealer, it's a good sign. Also check what kind of cars are being done there. If you see a lot of cabs or police cars, stay the hell away. If you see nice cars, check their work. Your insurance can't dictate which shop you go so I always use the one the dealer uses since they are familiar with Porsche and have a better reputation in general. After the paint is fully dry in a week or two, I'd put a clear bra on it. Respray are very susceptable to rock chips (generally worst than original paint).

Caveat emptor!! $350.00 is way to cheap to paint two Porsche Fenders. Remember you get what you pay for.

The insurance company didn't recommend this shop. I refused to go to the shop the insurance company recommended so when I had my coolant resevoir replaced, at the local dealership, I asked them where they send their cars. They recomended a shop right around the corner from the dealership. This lot has only 996's(I guess 996's drivers suck lol!)) and BMW's in the fence.

How much labor is involved? Remember they have my bumper and hood off.

It's all in the prep. If they shortcut the prep, the paint will look like crap. A real pro will take their time. I can't tell you how much time unless I saw the car. But the overall quote is very low.

Never go with the lowest bidder when repainting your car. Low usually equates to Crap.

I agreed to the $350 yesterday, fyi. I called him today to get a bit more information. Number one I won't get the car until next week, which makes it week number 4. I can't believe I'm paying a car note for a car I haven't driven since Labor Day(2005 is the first year I've paid a car note since 2001, weird fealing). The shop specializes in Audi, BMW, Porsche, VW. The guy overseeing my car told me the following today: There were preexisting rock chips and the insurance company knows it, he said. He asked for 3hrs per part(Hood and Lt Fender) for prep but they are only giving 1.5 to prep the area for the tire retread scratches. He indicated it's a long and tedious process in preping(which I mentioned before). He said typically shops use a chemical stripping process but he didn't want the chemicals to roll or drip down into other area's of the car. He stated that the insurance has paid for the paint already and most of the prep. . My $350 is to fill in the gap for the rest of the prep (not paint) which includes removing the headlight for the RT fender and rock chips which is not included in the claim at all and the rock chip prep areas on the hood and LT fenders. According to the Estimate originally given to me, my insurance company pays $34hr for prep. and were originally giving 4.2 hrs for prep. I have no idea what the paint shop's supplement is. He also mentioned "I understand your questions about the $350 but if you came off the streets to have those 3 parts done, it would cost you big bucks" "luckily, in your case, insurance paid for most of this work". Anymore questions I should ask?

OK, but there was no bidding. I asked the dealership where to go.

"But, $350 for painting of the fenders is REALLY cheap. Why so cheap? That would throw up red flags for me....$350.00 is way to cheap to paint two Porsche Fenders. Remember you get what you pay for....$350 is way too low for the right amount of labor involved. I'd be a bit cautious...." You guys are paranoid. Overpaying for things doesn't mean you got better work- it just means you overpaid. I ran into this when i used to turn wrenches. If you quoted a guy with a Mercedes the same price you'd quote a guy with a Chevy the MB guy would run like hell. "The price is cheap, he must be a hack" was the thinking i guess. So, i learned to simply double my bill when dealing with people that have more money than sense, and that made them happy. "Wow, that's expensive, this guy must be really good". We mere blue collar wrench turning peasants used to laugh about that all the time. Rich guys....lol. You're getting a fair deal DC Porsche, run with the ball.

There is a reason poeple hate going to the auto repair shops. GUYS LIKE YOU! Instead of explaining what is involved and the cost you just UNETHICALLY overcharge them. It's called theft. If you guys would take the time to explain PROPERLY and not suggest uneccessary repairs or OVERCHARGE for the same service then you wouldn't be down at the top of the list of places people hate to go (right up there with the dentist). This thread had NOTHING to do with paranoid it has to do knowing that $350 is bad number to PROPERLY paint to fenders on any car correctly. So I guess with your 1200+ posts and still not a member round here all the rest of us must have overpaid about $18 correct?

"There is a reason poeple hate going to the auto repair shops. GUYS LIKE YOU! Instead of explaining what is involved and the cost you just UNETHICALLY overcharge them. It's called theft. If you guys would take the time to explain PROPERLY and not suggest uneccessary repairs or OVERCHARGE for the same service then you wouldn't be down at the top of the list of places people hate to go (right up there with the dentist)." Actually if you had any clue you wouldn't trust any mechanic. But enough about that. "This thread had NOTHING to do with paranoid it has to do knowing that $350 is bad number to PROPERLY paint to fenders on any car correctly." Well apparently that's just not the case, is it? Look at what they're doing, it's clear that they're going to do a nice job, and that in fact...the price is good. "So I guess with your 1200+ posts and still not a member round here all the rest of us must have overpaid about $18 correct?" So it would seem. I'm definitely getting my money's worth here, are you? You're paying $18 a year for a custom signiture. That's quite a deal. Look, it's not my fault that to quote a guy with a mercedes $100 bucks for a basic plug only tuneup(just an example that i've experienced in the past) they lose their mind and run to someone that will charge them three times the price(or more) so they feel like they're getting 'quality work'. It's not my fault that rich chicks want to pay $350 for a perm that is in effect exactly what you can get at any beauticians shop for $85-100 bucks. It's not my fault that a rich chick isn't happy unless she's wearing $200 dollar jeans accesorized with a $600 dollar purse even though she could get the same crap for 1/10th the cost. Rich people are just goofy about money, it's not my fault. My old man is very wealthy, he's the same way too. Oh, and BTW, if you agree to pay(overpay) a certain price for a certain service then the merchant is not ripping you off- you're just an uneducated customer if you let yourself overpay through ignorance or arrogance. You guys are the ones that force us to do it anyway. If our price is too low you won't give us business. We learned this first hand. Sort of like never going with the lowest bidder...but someone middle of the road. Why bid low when no one is going to take you up on your offer? It's cause and effect my friend. Paranoid rich owners are the cause, and high prices are the effect.

Not going to argue with you. Moochers and Thiefs have an answer for EVERYTHING. Enjoy Rennlist and get the best benefit you can. This is a typical trend we see everywhere in society.....a small minority of members covers the cost for the majority. You do what feels right, but then again we already know what you will do. Enjoy.

Why should i pay when it's not required? Do you often pay for free items or services? If rennlist really wanted us all to pay, they'd make it mandatory. Paying to 'support' the site is optional, and for your $18 dollars you get certain fringe benefits....benefits that i could care less about. Of course the reason it's not mandatory is because half the board would just up and migrate to another board overnight(i know something about this seeing as how i run a site with close to 2000 registered members myself- a site which BTW, is free to all, like 99% of all message forums). Further, whether i pay or not, is quite frankly, none of your business, and your opinion on the matter is simply none of my concern. But back to topic: The reason some folks overpay for everything is because that's what it takes to make them feel 'exclusive'. You don't want the best deal, or you'd always pick the lowest bidder with a decent reputation. I bet not a one of you uses coupons at the store either(lol, neither do i). So, you over pay because you want to. When you go to a 'specialist' shop and pay $175/hr labor you're not paying for better work, you're paying for the shop owners hobbies and your own 'piece of mind'. The topic of this thead is a perfect illustration of exactly what i'm talking about. That shop is going to invest about 5 hours labor for the $350.00. That's a healthy but reasonably fair labor rate of $70 an hour, and what does the guy get accused of for his troubles? Being an Earl Schieb type hack. And then you bitch when we inflate the prices to make our customer base 'happy'. Why would we ever offer you a fair deal when all you're going to do in return is accuse us of being hacks? And then when a mechanic tells you the truth, you freak out and call him names. That's ok...we're used to that too. Which is why we usually just tell you what you want to hear, because it's not as if even 1% of our customers would know the difference anyway, so we might as well just keep them 'happy'. It would be great if a mechanic could offer what he felt was a fair price, and he could be honest with his customers, but it just doesn't work that way.(this is why it's better to deal with poor people. When you give them a good deal they're grateful, not suspicious. A lot of rich folks are simply high maintenance). People don't want the truth(if they did there would be no such thing as PC), and they don't want their rich friends to call them fools for taking their car to a 'hack' who only charged them $100 bucks to put six plugs in their 'exclusive' top end car. Because we all know that installing plugs in a top end car requires a skill that only a shop charging an exorbinant hourly rate can provide....right? BTW, i wouldn't shoot my mouth off too much about how 'some of us support everyone else'. With the tax dollars my family pays(myself included) we could probably support an entire 3d world city, lol.

Maybe a bit of clarification on the $350 would help�� What the poster was stating is that his car is being painted (actual cost of the insurance quote not posted) so the $350.00 is what he�ll be paying for the additional fender work. It�s not far fetched considering that the paint is already purchase and that the body shop wouldn�t mind making a few more bucks when the cars already there�.. It�s like the case of those of you with timing belts, why wouldn�t you swap out your water pump when you�re already there for a few bucks more�.. Poster, please jump in and tell me if I�m wrong�.. Good Luck, hope everything works out just fine for you�.. -Eli

Exactly, 100% correct! Its called fraud! Just as a comparison: one fender for my wife's Volvo was $1075.00. That was to remove a small scrape and dent about the size of an orange and repaint the entire fender to match. Pefect results. I asked last year for a quote to paint the front bumper on my Porsche to remove the rock chips (which I didn't do)...$800.00. This is the best shop in the Portland Metro area that specializes in Jags, BMW, P/Cars, Ferrari's and the like.

Yes, but I thought I mentioned that at least 2 times..

DC, Let me/us know how it goes.. I need to have my rear painted (minor scratch). Tysons collision quoted $1100. They said they would have to remove the entire bumper. Sand and re-spray the entire bumper. If your shop does good work, I would like to take my car in and have the bumper touched up.

Yes, I know but sometimes it's not what you say it's how you say it.... Then again it could be nothing at all.... -Eli

Exactly, it could also be the captivating title of the post that lingers in the reader's mind. I was just trying to get folks attention, sorta like how Fox Networks do..

If you have it done at least ithe fenders would match the hood! I'm not so sure because you pay allot of money the the job would be better, I spent upwards of $2,000 just to do a fender on my BMW through a a shop that just does high end auto's and it turned out like crap. I think if you see there work and don't take the car off there lot if you're not satisfied. Why not.

It's done and over she's home.. It looks great.

Hey man. I'm glad it worked out and that you're happy with the results. If you don't mind, which body shop did you use? I'm always in the lookout for good shops in the area. I've used Wagon Works Collision in Alexandria and Tysons Auto Body (HBL's shop) when I installed various aerokit pieces and both were very good but a bit pricey. -Gary P.S. Can you post some pics?

First Choice Body Shop in Arlington, I was going to go to Collsion works across from Potomac Yards but I saw no Porsches there (all BMW's). First Choice is full of 996's and was recommended by the dealership nearby. It's been kind of grey out today, I'm going to wash her up tomorrow morning to take some pics.

Cool. Yeah, I've heard of First Choice. Maybe I'll use them when it comes time to respray the bumper (so much friggin' road construction here that I have all these stone chips). There are actually two Wagonworks locations -- the one right across from Potomac Yards and another (Wagonworks II) a couple of blocks down the street towards Alexandria. When I took my car to Wagonworks II there was another 996, a few Benzes, a couple of Bimmers, a Range Rover or two and even a Ferrari Challenge Stradale there so that made me feel a little bit at ease that they were dealing with high-end cars. Hey, check out http://www.dorkiphus.com too. It's a local group and you can find a lot of info on track events and fun runs, wrenching sessions, car shows, etc. -G

"Just as a comparison: one fender for my wife's Volvo was $1075.00. That was to remove a small scrape and dent about the size of an orange and repaint the entire fender to match. Pefect results." Yep, you got raped Jim. It's still not fraud though(with the caveat that they actually do what was promised for the price promised), this is a free market economy. If the market will bear the cost, you can charge whatever you want. If a lawyer can charge you $250-300 per 1/2 hour, or a doctor $50-75 for a 15 minute visit, then a mechanic can charge you $1000 to paint a fender. Is it fair? Not really, but it is free......as in free market. And if you think joe retail is getting raped, you should see the prices the insurance companies pay!

LOL, i can almost guarantee that if you pulled into that shop with a $5000 dollar honda they'd have quoted you less than 1/2 the price. Want to beat them at their game? Take the bumper off yourself and have them respray it. Then put in back on yourself. Being a DIYer really pays dividends.

Glad you're happy with the work, and your baby is OK.