What to Consider Before Painting Your Car

Are you planning to get your car painted? Before you head to an auto body shop, you have to consider a few things first. This will help you save money and avoid common mistakes other car owners commit.

Remember that repainting a car is an expensive venture. Therefore, it’s important to understand the pros and cons of doing so to prevent your money from going to waste.

Decide on the color

The biggest decision you need to make before repainting your car is choosing the best color. Each automotive paint color has its pros and cons on the road.

If you consider safety and comfort paramount, white and light colors are the best pick. You may want to avoid black and other dark shades since it’s associated with a higher accident risk.

However, if you’re planning to paint the same color, a full repaint may not be necessary. You can ask the technician to touch up weathered parts to save money.

Value for money

It’s important to ask yourself whether re-painting your vehicle is worth the expense. If the paint job costs you 25% of your car’s value, you should drop the idea.

While a new paint will increase your car’s market value, an old model may not give much of that benefit. In the end, foregoing the new paint may save you from losses once you sell your car.

Paint job quality

Automotive paint jobs can be expensive, so you should only deal with a reputable paint shop. Make sure that they have licensed and trained technicians who will undertake the job.

It’s important to ask about the paint type that they will be using as well as the overall cost of the project.

Also, if the paint shop promises to finish the project within the day, you should look elsewhere. A legitimate paint shop would take up to 10 hours for the preparation alone.

A paint shop that promises to do faster is likely rushing the job to accommodate as many clients as they could. This isn’t a good sign in terms of paint quality.

Turnaround time

Paint jobs take at least three days to finish, more or less. But for the paint to fully cure, you may need at least a week. This is a major disruption if you use your car as a major means of transportation.

Why does it take so long, you ask? Well, unlike painting a wall, your car requires special steps to ensure that the paint material will adhere properly. This involves a series of prepping, priming, painting, curing, and so on.

Skipping any of these steps will affect the overall quality of the paint. It’s best to let your car’s new paint cure fully, so it won’t sustain premature damages once you’re back on the road.

Conclusion

New paint is a good way to spruce up your car’s appearance. Still, you should consider a few aspects to ensure that you’ll get the most out of the project. You have to factor in the color, cost, paint quality, and delivery time.