$300 to fix minor rust spots on hood, Am I getting ripped off ? Possible DIY ?

[MR_T]

Took my car to a body shop today, (no clue if it is reputable, just goggled the closes one) And the dude wanted close to $300 to sand down my entire hood and repaint it because of minor rusting. Pictures are attached, there are a couple more tiny spots on the top left side but its all surface rust. I am not a pro but would it be possible for me to buff out the rust spots and use touch up paint or something ? I want to do something about it so that it does not spread. Or should I shop around ?

 

[jhelrey]

$300.00 to repaint a Honda hood sounds like a great deal!

 

[vintagefan]

When repaint is involved, you're usually lucky to get out for $500+ per body panel. Look at the guys work, and if it's legit, take the deal.

 

[warmpancakes]

need to see the underside of the front off the hood before we call it Minor

 

[garfunkle24]

Instead of asking here why not just check out a couple more places? If you're not happy with the price, of course you should shop around. Bears also **** in the woods. Anything else?

 

[MR_T]

So you guys think that the whole hood needs a repaint from the pics ?

 

[warmpancakes]

is he just gonna sand and repaint the hood, or treat the rust? If its a sand and repaint it will be back next year

 

[Drunken Yak inc]

Honestly, $300 sounds low to have it properly done. The rust will have to be sanded and treated, then the entire hood will need to be repainted. I highly doubt a spot repair would be able to be blended properly due to the age of the paint. I'm not by any means a paint expert, so YMMV.

 

[buick64203]

The materials alone are probably close to $300. Now add in a couple hours of shop time. I dont see how there is any money in the job.

 

[wornoutoldman]

Go to walmart to find a paint match and rattlecan it. $15.00 tops!

 

[Need4racin]

Well it's not a hard job, but it's not a gravy blend in job either. If the rest of the paint is in bad condition then the whole hood will need repainted. Ask him if hes going to sand it down to bare metal, that's the proper way to do it, but some don't on low priced jobs. That rust to me looks like old rock chips that surface rusted over. I'm guessing it's not rust from salt. If it's actual rust holes on the underside it's a more involved job. And you'll probably be getting the hack and pack special at $300 for rust holes.

If you don't care about the quality of the paint and just don't want bare metal rusting over, ask for a price on just a blend job on the front end of the hood. It's going to be noticeable that it was repainted on that part if the rest of the hood's paint is thin/weak; but it should cut the price to $200 or less.

 

[HaroRider]

The touch up idea will work, but it depends on how you want it to look. Touch up paint does NOT look good. Paint work is expensive. $300 sounds like a good deal, but make sure his work is up to your liking before you commit.

Usally you get what you pay for when it comes to body work.

One guy can do it for cheap and you can have mis matched and orange peel paint.

Or you can pay top dollar for an excellent job. Its your call. Shop around, look at each body shops work before you commit to that shop.

 

[IndyGarage]

Looks like you drove through a sandstorm. I've never been able to get a perfect job with touch up paint, but I have been able to get something that looks better than rust spots.

If it's a show car, spend the money. For a daily driver, carefully sand them down, neutralize the rust, prime with epoxy, then paint over it with touch up paint.

At worst, you screw it up, then take it to the guy to repaint it.

 

[Need4racin]

If you want to save some more money, tell him you'll wet sand and correct the paint. All he needs to do is prep and spray.

If you don't want to do that, man up and pay for it, no whining about price.

 

[buick64203]

Most reputable shops wont paint over someone elses work. Reason being, what if the paint starts to lift? Whos fault is it?

 

[wrenchr]

Body work period is costly, materials cost what they cost so the only haggle room is your labor and that is not fun since everyone, well most everyone wants top notch work done for the cost of less than materials.

 

[JeepsAreBuilt]

I bet the whole hood has rock chips.. maybe not rusty yet. So, to fix it properly, it'd have to be sanded down, primed, prepped, then painted. $300 is not enough.

Another option is.. buy a new hood for $100-150 and put it on yourself... then have them paint it for $200.

 

[jhelrey]

Hondas rust like that via the rock chips. It won't have holes through it.

 

[MR_T]

Hondas rust like that via the rock chips. It won't have holes through it.

This is all surface rust, I will upload pics later but the rust does not go through to the bottom of the hood. There is absolutely no sign of it on the other side.

 

[Super Sport]

Another option is.. buy a new hood for $100-150 and put it on yourself... then have them paint it for $200.

^This, although I'd wait until the rust got worse (if it does).

 

[ZRX61]

$300 to paint that? That wouldn't even get me out of bed.

 

[y20dth]

i just stopped reading at "buff out the rust spots"....

 

[dipper]

I have a verbal quote from a friend of mine to sandblast, fill and epoxy prime (no paint yet)
a hood for my truck. This would be a show quality, price quote is $300.

Going into any body shop off the street, if they are going to do a good job you are looking at 3-500 for a repaint. The materials and labor cost certainly add up quick.

Your diy option would be to buy paint in a spray bomb that may not match exaclty and do your best job at cleaning up the rust and priming/painting. You'd be looking at least $100 for a quart of paint, matched to your vin and put into spray bombs.

 

[ford.crazy]

$300 sounds like a good deal. Your not going to get a better deal. Unless you do it yourself and you'll still spend about half or more on materials to do it yourself. If you do it the right way and with proper materials.

 

[ZRX61]

I have a verbal quote from a friend of mine to sandblast, fill and epoxy prime (no paint yet)
a hood for my truck. This would be a show quality, price quote is $300.

The fact that your friend used the word "sandblast" indicates that he wouldn't know show quality work if it bit him on the nose.

 

[Davo J]

+1 on the sand blast.
I took 2 bonnets years ago to a friend of mine who sand blasted. I said I only wanted the inner frame done to save me prep work as I knew sand blasting would warp the larger panels. He did it and the over spray of sand from doing the frame hit the bonnet skin lightly and warped both bonnets, they where then scrap metal.

One place around here does some type of bead blasting and advertises they will guarantee not to warp a panel and do show cars etc, etc, but it's not sand blasting and the cost is 5-8 times the sand blasting cost.

For $300 to get the bonnet done, thats a great price. Just make sure he is going to do something about killing the rust and not just sand it and bog it up.

Dave

 

[djkeev]

Too cheap for a proper job.

Odds are high it'll be a quick sand, maybe a smear of plastic, fog with primer and a poor quality of paint top coat.

If you want it to look just ok for a year or so, go for it. If you want it done properly, this guy is suspect.

Dave