Can't seem to search the forums for a body paint recommendation in Southern California. My car is a 2001 coupe. Silver at the moment. I think I want to go with a solid colour. Any personal happy experience with a painter out here?

 

You can make and enquiry with a local Jaguar dealership or specialist.

 

I'm looking for personal experiences and opinions. Sure, I could just take it to any of the dealerships.

 

I fully stripped an prepped my black (PED) 03 coupe and took it to a local "well known" franchise today. (well, took it today, prepped it over the last few weeks) I'll post my findings when it is done.

My deal is that it is a daily driver and I couldn't drive a totally oxidized car around any more- don't need show car finish, but want it to look nice.

Are you SURE you want to paint it a different color? Can I interest you in maybe going to look for another XK8 in the color you want? It's just that changing colors is a huge undertaking and will not improve the value of the car IMHO.

 

Wow. Thanks for your post. I'm not jumping in quite just yet. That is something to think about.

 

contact the restoration shops for recommendations. they know the good painters. a dealer can often be the worst referral as there are different priorities when they send a car out for work. another option is to ask a customization shop as they also know the good painters. check out Yelp.com for reviews.

 

If you want to have color changed to something else, why not go for a wrap? 3M or similar. As already mentioned, repainting in a different color most likely will reduce the value of the car

Regards
Higgins

 

Also a fan of a wrap, especially if it is factory paint underneath. They can do ANY color you want and it looks like its painted. Around the same price as a budget paint job, and can be removed when\if you want to sell.

 

I don't like dark green, I will probably use 2001 or 2017 Ford Mustang bright red.(they are slightly different, 2001 have brighter color, more orange shade).I'll check Jaguar red too.

 

Well, got quotes for a wrap. $3500 to $6500. OUCH. Man, there are soooo many colours to choose from. Not sure what I'll end up doing.

 

if you decide to paint using a national chain franchise which i strongly advise you to avoid, do not use their single stage paint option. only use a base coat/clear coat application. the days are gone when the old enamel paints let alone lacquer would have that wonderful, deep depth of color. it is endlessly frustrating after only about a year when it becomes impossible to make the car shine. yes, heavy duty vehicles use single stage paint and look great, however they use good paint with hardeners meant for this application. this paint actually costs more than the base coat/clear coat for a car.

 

Over the last 50 years I have restored lots of cars and that includes painting them myself. As paint got more expensive I found it less expensive to let one of the national shops do it. But like "dsnyder566" I would fully prep the car myself, meaning do any body work necessary, completely sand the car, remove all the chrome parts..etc. I also did not go for the cheaper one, but the more expensive one where they applied a base coat and then clear. I did three cars this way and the results were good.

Since living in Southern California I do have a client that I have done several commercials and PSA's for. I have been to several of their body shops across all of Southern California and they do a terrific job. I even took one of my own cars, a Volvo C30 and had them paint it. That would be Caliber Collision, and they have shops all over Southern California. Here is one of the videos that I shot for them, Might help give you an idea about their quality.

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You know, I went to a Caliber Collision in Santa Monica and they said they don't work on luxury cars! I was quite surprised.

 

WOW...I'm surprised also. Going to have to ask them about that.