Repainting an old Volvo

I bought an '86 744 Turbo some time ago, rebuilt the engine and otherwise sorted it out so it is now a reliable, good handling car with a primo interior.

The problem is the paint is shot, and there are a few minor dings.

I like the car, plan to keep it, and am at such a point in my life that I have some extra money to throw at things (took a long time to get to that point).

I looked into having a complete repaint done, with the minor body work done as well; the best quote from a recommended shop was $2800.00.

This is twice what I paid for the car!

I'm likely to pull the trigger and pay for it, but part of me says "Really? Are you nuts?"

So my question: is $2800.00 a good price for a repaint, with minor body work included?

He'll pull off the trim, not just mask it off.

At 2800 it’s probably an Just OK paint job anyway.

Shop rate is $120+
Paint is $200-1000+ gal

Comparing what you got the car for to price of paint - 7/9 priceless

^^ This. Take it to Maaco if you want a cheap paint job. It won't last more that 4-5 years and will look like crap the day you pick it up. $2,800 is a give away price. Not that ou should take him up on the offer. The materials alone for a decent paint job are over $1,000 these days. I got a quote on enough old school enamel paint to re-shoot a core support, hood and fender to fix mrbrickdriver's 242 damage yesterday. $412 for just the paint, hardener and reducer. There will also be over $100 in epoxy primer and all the sanding and taping materials.

Find a painter that works out of his own building and does all the local shooting. I found such in the back woods of Georgia. Paid about $400 for a gallon of color and $300 for him to spray in a filtered booth. I had done all the prep and stripped the car. There wasn't even much taping to do.

Painter supplied the clear coat that he buys in drums within that $300.

I cut with 1500/3000 paper and polished back to better than new.

Take a look at what kind of a job the painter does...if he is any good he will be happy to show you the type of work he does.

2manyturbos Maaco recommendation is also a good one. I have had several Maaco paint jobs done, and they have always been excellent, BUT I always prepped the car myself. This always involved prepping the surfaces, removing every piece of trim, etc. They only had to clean the surface, mask the car, and paint it.

You mention that you have some minor body repair which makes me think $2,800 is very reasonable.

Just my 2 cents worth...probably not even worth 2 cents.




Dave Riedle

Jack said:

At 2800 it’s probably an Just OK paint job anyway.

Shop rate is $120+
Paint is $200-1000+ gal

Comparing what you got the car for to price of paint - 7/9 priceless

Click to expand...

^ this.

$2800 is top shelf OE quality materials for a complete nowadays.

I think you should just finish driving the wheels off of it and crush it like any other 7-9 since it will never be worth much of anything anyway.

Wagonmeister does his starts at $3k.
Awesome job judging by pics.
Located near Los Angeles.

A few years ago I remember going to a car show where a guy a really nice red 1800. He had all sorts of awards for the car , Bst of show, First place here and there, etc. The paint was flawless. When I asked who did the paint he showed me the receipt. It was done at a local Maaco. It was their "high end" paint job. It all depends on the painter.

The guy paints out of a shop in a building owned by a mechanic I've known for a long time, a true 'car guy," who recommends him highly: the painter is a Mexican, barely speaks English, and the building owner / mechanic built a paint booth for the painter to use.

I saw some cars he'd painted, his work seems first rate.

Thanks for the comments; I've decided to pull the trigger: the price is great, a lot less than another quote I've gotten.

When I wanted to paint my 242 turbo back in 2001. The cheapest shop quote around was Maaco which was about $1500 for one of their upper end paint jobs. The regular really good body shops around here all wanted more like $3500. I found a guy like described above who had his own building on his property and had it painted for $2000. He fixed the rear wheel arch rust and panel behind the rear bumper for that. I also spent another $300 in clips and trim replacement. I foolishly even bought new vinyl black trim under the side windows instead of having it painted which would have lasted longer.

If you are going to continue your ownership long term. the cost will be amortized over the time you get with a nice waxed paint job to help that squareness slip through the air.

Paint materials have tripled in cost since 2001. No real justification for it doing so. Many Maaco painters are very good at shooting the paint. That is all they do, every day. It is the prep and materials they use that makes or breaks the job. Their standard paint job is/was synthetic enamel. Cheap and looks nice and glossy for about 2 years, then, dies.

I will add my experience that I am going through right now on a BMW E30. Look at the shops work. If they recommend removing the front and rear glass vs just taping off the seals they probably take more pride in doing the job right. Will they strip, prime, guide coat, block, re-prime, guide coat, block again and then paint? After being painted will they color sand and buff? I am paying $3000 for a smallish E30 coupe and the shop took out the windows, sunroof, took off all the door handles and locks, bumpers, trim, grill, lights, EVERYTHING. I told them to take their time and explained that my last "inexpensive" paint job was a disaster, I could see DA sander marks through the paint, it had all kinds of fisheyes, and every spot that needed spot priming could be seen through the paint. This was a local body shop only a couple miles from where my BMW is now. It is all in the prep as everyone has said. And finding a shop that takes pride in their work.


The cost will also vary greatly on the paint used. Each brand has different tiers of paint and some top of the line brands like Glauseratte or Spies Hecker can be rather expensive. The lower tier paints can be just as good and I would spend my money on a higher end, high solids clear.

2800 is cheap iI spent 12k on the Impala and the only panel i replaced was drivers side rear quarter panel, with s n.o.s. g.m. unit buut the paint and bodywork is flawless.. and i would never do it again if you drive it they get scratched and dented

Keep in mind that MOST shops do not want to respray a whole car. Their is no money to be made. Everything now is an insurance job. Get a new fender paint it and move on down the road. A few will strip ( maybe and to a point) block , prime, guide coat, etc. and do nice work. But if you aren't stopping by to check you still don't know how much detail they put into it. In the end even if they cut corners you get an excellent job. Everyone is happy. These Volvos are not Pebble Beach contenders and if you want that level of finish then start with a different car.