Having my new-to-me '96 GMC K2500 Suburban completely repainted

[South VA]

My '96 went into the body shop today for a total redo - minor bodywork, and a complete paint job. I'm sticking with the original color, which I believe is emerald green metallic. It has only 102,000 miles, runs great, and is basically rust-free as I bought it in AZ. I got three bids on the job and this was the most expensive, but not by much. Also replacing the grille, fender flares, side molding, rear bumper cover, and front bumper strip. He'll also polish the headlights, which I'll upgrade with brighter halogen bulbs. I'm pretty excited

 

[97Z71BOSS]

How much is that gonna cost you? Been thinking bout redoing my 97 K1500. It’s starting to lose its clear coat on roof and bed rails

 

[South VA]

The paint on mine is mostly intact, except for some surface rust on the roof rails. The clearcoat is shot. Paint and labor is $6200, and I'll have another $600 or so in parts.

That includes removing all most exterior parts, including the door handles and emblems. The windows are staying in, but the window belt moldings are being removed.

Also includes using top of the line clear coat, which is expensive, but makes a huge difference in appearance and longevity. Materials will come to around $1700.

So, all in, just under $7000.

 

[South VA]

Also, mine has some minor body damage: behind the left rear wheel, a few dents on the hood, and some small dings on the sides and on the rear doors. Repairing those added a bit to the cost.

What I found when getting bids is that the body shops, at least those around here, don't like to do complete paint jobs anymore because they make so much more on collision repair. The shop I wanted to do the job was a couple of thousand cheaper, but he couldn't guarantee that he'd be able to work it in this year at all. I bought the vehicle for towing our camping trailer, and want it ready before spring. So I went with my second choice, but expect that he will do a fine job.

 

[TonyM]

That's a good deal. And it's not just there, pretty much all bodyshops don't like doing completes. There's just not much money in them.

 

[HotWheelsBurban]

When we picked up our Burb from the collision repair shop before Christmas, the bill for replacing the right front fender, grille, bumper and lenses on the right side, plus repainting the fender and R&R on everything, was over $2500(which thankfully Allstate paid since the wreck was not our fault, the guilty party admitted responsibility AND they had insurance!). I asked about repainting the roof and hood on the crew cab(clearcoat has faded pretty much away). The service writer said they could do it for $2000....

 

[JOHNGAAA1]

The profit is low due to the high cost of the materials. Last full paint job I did on a 1999 k1500 suburban lt, just the materials, ONLY PPG, AGAIN ONLY PPG, cost $2000 with masking paper, plastic, tape, edge foam, bc, cc, and primer.

 

[someotherguy]

Sounds about what I'd expect for a decent quality full paint job with minimal bodywork, and quality materials. Good move on the clearcoat. Hopefully your painter is also considering how well the clearcoat choice works with the base - most paint guys worth a damn know what plays well together for long-lasting results.

Every now and then somebody bugs me about selling the SS, and I've thought about it here and there, but I probably put as much money into bodywork and paint than I paid for the truck in the first place; I pretty much need to drive the wheels off it to get a decent ROI.

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Richard

 

[TreeGeared]

When I had the truck in my avatar painted last year it needed some body work such as cab corners, rockers, and dent repair. Total cost was around $6500 so in the same ballpark as you.

I also had a hard time finding a shop willing to do a full repaint. Even then it took almost 3 months since they were working around insurance work.

 

[TonyM]

The profit is low due to the high cost of the materials. Last full paint job I did on a 1999 k1500 suburban lt, just the materials, ONLY PPG, AGAIN ONLY PPG, cost $2000 with masking paper, plastic, tape, edge foam, bc, cc, and primer.

Wow, if you only paid that for materials, you're doing dam good. I realize that's US $$ but thats still cheap by comparison. I actually own a bodyshop and we use RM paint. Onyx HD waterborne (which I hate btw and might be jumping to PPG) and I just ordered a gallon of paint for a customer that's getting a complete paint job, and my cost on the basecoat alone was $1700can. The clear coat alone without any binders is almost $500/gal. Just the primer/base/clear all rts, is close to $3000.

I feel like a Dr. sometimes when I have to give people the news that "refreshing" their old vehicle, because they don't want to spend the money on a new one and get another 5-10 years out of the current one, starts at $8000 and goes up from there