Paint job on new Civic?

[alias Igme]

I have already accepted that a daily beater will keep on getting stone chips. so my plan is to just let it accumulate for a bit and re-paint it entirely .

I have the modern steel for the Civic but that metallic red that Mazda have strikes my fancy

Sponsored

 

[n2da2nd]

I fancy the Orange Fury/Sunset Orange color that the Fit is available in; but unfortunately, it is not available on the Civic (I also like the Inferno that used to be available on the Toyota Tacoma and Tundra). So I think I may purchase a new car and then take it to a body shop to have it painted. I plan to keep the vehicle as long as possible, perhaps even joining those who have driven one million miles, so I figure why not have it painted the color I desire. That being said, resale value is not a factor in this case. I plan to get a Sedan with the 2.0 NA engine with a manual transmission. However, I do have some questions:

-How much should I expect to pay to have a Civic painted by a quality body shop? I realize the price can vary anywhere from a few hundred to several thousand dollars, greatly depending on the quality of the body shop. It can also depend on the size of the vehicle. I'm hoping that to paint a Civic wouldn't be any more than $3k. Basically, I'd want the quality to be similar to if the manufacturer offered the vehicle with this particular color; nothing super fancy otherwise.

-I've read that Hondas traditionally haven't always had the best paint jobs from the factory. They tend to peel and fade as the vehicle ages (despite waxing several times per year), and I've even read on this forum about paint chipping very easily. Would a new paint job help solve this problem?

-Do they sand the old paint job off, or simply paint over the old paint when painting a vehicle? If they paint over the old paint, would this add a noticeable amount of weight to the vehicle? Forgive if this seems like a bone-headed question, but would it add enough weight to affect fuel economy? The only dumb question is the one you don't ask, as they say.

-Lastly, about how much would it save if they only painted the exterior vs. painting under the hood, truck, and inside the doors? I would prefer to go all the way and paint all of it, but if there's a big enough difference, may skip it or perhaps have them finish painting the innard parts later.

DO NOT PAINT YOUR CAR
You will lose the resale value in case you want to get rid of it. A proper paint job aint cheap so maybe you should look into wrapping your car as an alternative and affordable way. Plus you can try a different combo with the wrapping route. The paint coat on Civic is known for not being durable so wrapping can also help you protect the original paint in the long run.

 

[Snoopyslr]

DO NOT PAINT YOUR CAR
You will lose the resale value in case you want to get rid of it. A proper paint job aint cheap so maybe you should look into wrapping your car as an alternative and affordable way. Plus you can try a different combo with the wrapping route. The paint coat on Civic is known for not being durable so wrapping can also help you protect the original paint in the long run.

I haven't seen this happen on a Civic yet, but vinyl on these worry me. Lower end vinyls, especially after a few years, REALLY stick to the paint. Even with heat they become very difficult to remove. I'd be worried about paint coming up with the vinyl whenever you decide to peel. I have seen cars with body work and/or aftermarket paint jobs have vinyl rip the paint off during removal.

This isn't something you have to worry about with Plasti-dip.

 

[n2da2nd]

I haven't seen this happen on a Civic yet, but vinyl on these worry me. Lower end vinyls, especially after a few years, REALLY stick to the paint. Even with heat they become very difficult to remove. I'd be worried about paint coming up with the vinyl whenever you decide to peel. I have seen cars with body work and/or aftermarket paint jobs have vinyl rip the paint off during removal.

This isn't something you have to worry about with Plasti-dip.

Your concern is valid for sure. I would highly recommend the OP to use well-known material such as 3M or Avery if he wanted to wrap his car.

 

[Dularn]

I’ll probably just have it painted. As I stated, I plan to drive it until it dies, so resale value isn’t a factor. And, if vinyl has to be redone every 5 years or so, that’s another reason to just paint.

 

[Donkeyhotay123]

OTOH, every 5 years or so, you can change the color of your wrap.

I'm thinking about just vinyl wrapping the roof of my white HB. Just to give it a bitty-bit of color contrast.

 

[Lola]

I’ll probably just have it painted. As I stated, I plan to drive it until it dies, so resale value isn’t a factor..

These are often famous last words.

Sponsored