Cost of painting vs. value of car

JohnV@nn wrote:
> How does a person come to grips with paying $2000 to paint a car that
> is worth less than $2000? I know the paint job will increase the value
> a couple hundred dollars, but no more than that I bet.
>
> I'm sure it happens all the time (people paying more for paint than the
> value of the car). The same thing would happen if I decided to buy a
> Kenne Bell supercharger ($3000 part for a $2000 car). The numbers just
> aren't going to add up.
>
> But with an 11-week-old boy to think about, I also have to let the
> practical side of my brain have a say. Does it make sense to pay 100%
> of the value of the car to have it painted? Or maybe the $250 job at
> Maaco that would (hopefully) be better than what I have now?
>
> John
> 93 GT
>
Why get it painted at all? It doesn't provide any functional difference to the
car. Take that $2K and buy Harley (or whatever) stock. In 2-3 years when you're
ready to buy another car, that $2k will be worth a tad more.
If it's rust, that's not a good reason to get the car painted. IMO, it's a good
reason NOT to get the car painted. Whenever you see rust spots, just wire brush them
and blast with Extend. The rust you can see on the outside is not your enemy; it's
the rust underneath that you can't see.

--
..boB
1997 HD FXDWG - Turbocharged!
2001 Dodge Dakota QC 5.9/4x4/3.92
1966 Mustang Coupe - Daily Driver
1965 FFR Cobra - Finally on the Road!

On 11 Oct 2005 17:52:19 -0700, "JohnV@nn" > wrote:

>It's amazing how fast he's growing though. He's almost 12 weeks old.
>Seems I've hardly blinked since he was born.

It's a case of not being able to see the forest for the trees. When
you see them every day, you notice less change than say an aunt who
sees them once every three years. This condition exists in every
aspect of daily life.

Here is an example.... when I was in high school we lived in a small
area where a patrol car made the rounds on a fairly regular basis. We
would totally dismantle and remove the school bus stops which were
roofed boxes. We'd do so a section at a time. The bus stop would be
gone and the patrol would not notice the difference. THEN we'd make an
anonymous call and report the missing bus stop. The poor patrolman got
called on the carpet I'm sure.

How often have you drive a route and suddenly observed a major change,
and when you check, you find it has been there for several months?
>
>John
>
>
>JohnV@nn wrote:
>> How does a person come to grips with paying $2000 to paint a car that
>> is worth less than $2000? I know the paint job will increase the value
>> a couple hundred dollars, but no more than that I bet.
>>
>> I'm sure it happens all the time (people paying more for paint than the
>> value of the car). The same thing would happen if I decided to buy a
>> Kenne Bell supercharger ($3000 part for a $2000 car). The numbers just
>> aren't going to add up.
>>
>> But with an 11-week-old boy to think about, I also have to let the
>> practical side of my brain have a say. Does it make sense to pay 100%
>> of the value of the car to have it painted? Or maybe the $250 job at
>> Maaco that would (hopefully) be better than what I have now?
>>
>> John
>> 93 GT

Spike
1965 Ford Mustang fastback 2+2 A Code 289 C4 Trac-Lok
Vintage Burgundy w/Black Standard Interior; Vintage 40
16" rims w/BF Goodrich Comp T/A gForce Radial
225/50ZR16 KDWS skins; surround sound audio-video.
Feb 2004 - http://207.36.208.198/albums/86810/003_May_21_3004.jpg
Feb 2004 - http://207.36.208.198/albums/86810/005_May_21_2004.jpg
Jul 2005 - http://207.36.208.198/albums/86810/d..._11_05_002.jpg
Jul 2005 - http://207.36.208.198/albums/86810/E...ebuild_006.jpg

"dwight" > wrote in
:

> "JohnV@nn" > wrote in message
> oups.com...
>> How does a person come to grips with paying $2000 to paint a car
>> that is worth less than $2000? I know the paint job will increase
>> the value a couple hundred dollars, but no more than that I bet.
>>
>> I'm sure it happens all the time (people paying more for paint than
>> the value of the car). The same thing would happen if I decided to
>> buy a Kenne Bell supercharger ($3000 part for a $2000 car). The
>> numbers just aren't going to add up.
>>
>> But with an 11-week-old boy to think about, I also have to let the
>> practical side of my brain have a say. Does it make sense to pay
>> 100% of the value of the car to have it painted? Or maybe the $250
>> job at Maaco that would (hopefully) be better than what I have now?
>>
>> John
>> 93 GT
>
> I feel your pain. I just dropped $2K on TFrog's transmission, and
> TFrog's book value is probably right around that.
>
> But I don't think that way.

Agreed.

> My wife pays over $300/month to drive a new car every other year.
> While I don't make monthly payments, I do make lump-sum payments like
> this last one. TFrog's been paid off for a long time, but it's never
> truly paid off.

Only if you carry a balance. I see those expenses as "improvements".

> If I add up what I spend on that car over the course of a year and
> break it out into monthly payments, it still wouldn't approach what
> it costs for a new ride. Besides, I'm not about to trade in or trade
> up - TFrog is a keeper.

I know the feeling. The LX has been through three "deaths" so far, and
it's always come back to life. The last one cost around $5k to fix
(certainly more than the book value of the car), but it's always worth
it. If I bought another car for the LX's book, I'd probably have to
dump a few more grand into that car to make it roadworthy and decent.
I know what I have with the LX, and there's no way I could've ended up
with a car as nice as the LX is for the $5k plus book. Of course, I'm
giving weight to the fact that it's a 5.0 as opposed to a Jap 4-banger.

> I never look at that car and think "book value". I think "dwight
> value" - what it's worth to me.

See above.

> I'm looking ahead to a new paint job, myself, and I won't flinch at
> spending that much for a very good finish. I plan on keeping the car
> long enough to make it more than worthwhile.

Part of the $5k went to repainting the entire front end, since it is
the 2nd "new" front clip anyway. Came out beautiful. Because it's
been mostly garage-kept, the rest of the car is pretty nice too. The
only thing the LX needs is a good wax job.

> Now, if I were thinking about spending $2000 to repaint the car "in
> order to sell it", then, no, I wouldn't bother. Good money after bad.
>
> dwight
> www.tfrog93.com

Selling isn't an option. The LX is an heirloom anyway.

Joe
Calypso Green '93 5.0 LX AOD hatch with a few goodies
Black '03 Dakota 5.9 R/T CC