Technical Paint cost!

I just looked into the cost of the basecoat for the color I picked for my Olds. It's called Carmon Red Metallic, code M3W/E4. Price for PPG Deltron was $1998.99 per gallon!!! I damn near shit my pants. I asked what it would cost in PPG Omni. That was $325. I was shocked at the difference in price. Is Omni really that bad, or is Deltron just way over priced? My nephew has a body shop, and uses only Dupont. He's getting a price for me too. Maybe another brand I should be looking at? I've always used PPG, but it's been about 15 years since I've painted anything, and was not expecting the crazy money they get for paint these days

 

Isn't just paint prices. It is amazing when you don't use something everyday and when you go to buy it, it is nuts what they want now for it. just the other day I looked up factory Peterbilt tank straps and they wanted $500 and that isn't a set, that is for each.

 

Buddy of mine owns a collision business. Went by there the other day and we talked paint. He pulled down from shelf 3 quart cans, all about 1/4 left in them, but still had his price on them. Like base red metallic, a green, and something else. Total his cost was a Big Mac shy of a thousand bucks. So, he does his repair work, adds any parts needed, plus his labor costs and the paint costs---and gets nothing but bitching from his customers about high costs. Told me he may not be in the business much longer, couldn't blame him at all..

 

Why I drive junk

 

Used to use Omni paint, switched to Nason--still economy paint but an improvement in my opinion.

 

What the hell is in a gallon of paint that makes it so freaking expensive?

 

Paint cost have a lot more going on than what is in the can. Paint companies have to buy their way into shops. They have to provide free equipment like scanning tools, computers, mixing banks. They have to provide training, tech reps to show up on a Friday at 5:00pm to fix a problem or come paint for a week while the shops painter is on holidays. None of that stuff is free and has to be paid for some how. Shops using Omni or Nason do not get those type of perks so add that to lower quality raw materials and you get massive cost differences. Nobody seems to get the fact that paint companies are not in business to service home users painting their cars. They are in business to service the collision industry and for the most part the big players within that industry.

Also red's are usually the most expensive colour you can buy as the raw materials used to make it are the most expensive and red colours from luxury brands like Porsche are going to be even more so. You have literally pick the worst combination of variables for paint cost that you possibly could have.

 

And that's why all these new fandangled cars are painted in GE Load Center Light Gray. Can get that stuff by the gallon for a buck fifty.

 

That may be true to a certain extent, but I think it would extend to all the levels of paint, not just the top end.

 

The pigments and resins come from the same plants.
Brand X top line can be expensive. Race teams, paint reps, location costs, development costs …….
Brand X usually has at least 3 paint lines.
Level 1: has their best paint matching technology and latest pigments to satisfy matching paint for collision repair.
Level 2: the old level 1. No longer improving the product for collision work.
Level 3: economy line. Fewer pigments/toners amd not recommended for spot work. Can be mixed in enamel, alkyd, urethane, base and single stage.
there’s really no reason to spend big $$$$ on level one for all over, older car applications. Unless you want one of the new tri stage colors.

 

I bought breakwater blue for my wife's Lexus that ice blue color and it was 189 for a pint so I don't think the myth of the red being the most cost is still true that what my buddy who owns a body shop says anyway. I do like Nason from Napa it's sprays nice. My 2 Penny's.its all so damn expensive,I painted my 16 ft aquasport last summer with Rust-Oleum safety yellow got a gallon of enamel at Home Depot' for 60 bucks it never peeled off in the water at 40 mph ,I was impressed thinned with acetone and sprayed it with my Binks #40 50 year old spray gun

 

as has been stated before, " ain't nuttin' cheap anymore except me". miss Earl Scheib " Paint any car any color for $29.99"

 

Omni is okay. They do have a sign taped to the till at my local paint wholesaler that they do not recommend Omni when doing touch ups. Paint match issues. For a complete I would use it. I prefer Lumabase and Chroma but they are more expensive.

 

This is why there are Facebook groups dedicated to painting cars with Rustoleum. Look them up. Lots of newer and classic type cars and trucks, plus amazing pics, and testimonials about hardener, clear, and the pitfalls. These guys spray, brush, and roll it on. Pics of cars painted years ago that still look good, even stuff parked in the weather. Look this up. It's damn tempting. Don't shoot the messenger!

 

For my last project, I looked at the candy red that was on Ford pickups about 3 or 4 years ago. Same thing, $1900 per gallon. Not available in Omni. Where I live, we don't have many choices. The prices are why I started using Kirker back in 2006. Not many color choices, though. I use cheap base coats and the best clear I can find. I started using that about 11 years ago. I'm not aware of any problems to date. We all make the decision of what is important and what we will live with. If the color is a make or break, then I would do it. To not means you might never be happy with your decision.

 

Earl Scheib's wife said that . . . ?

 

Omni is okay. Takes more to get the same coverage as the Deltron. Shop line is okay and same for coverage as Omni. Have you tried Matrix? Their formulas are the same as PPG but way less in cost(take into account the last shop that used this was over10 years ago so ymmv). Definitely wouldn’t recommend Shopline clear though. Cuts and buffs like crap. Omni is way better.
Was the price for DBU, DCU, or something else? That’ll factor into cost as well.

 

Was that Shop Lines 2:1 clear? I have some I was going to use on my hood. What went wrong on the buffout?

 

I don’t remember to be honest. The rep gave us some to try years ago. It sanded hard and the sand scratches never really came out no matter how far you took it down with fine paper. Definitely with the $ to get the DCU 2002. Save time and that saves $.

 

Oh, for the good old days when we ran down to the local Napa and got any color acrylic enamel we wanted for 35 bucks. Sprayed nice, lasted decades.

 

That's why I have a huge stash of old paint that I got for free from different shops that closed down, or maybe a $1 bid at an auction. I can mix up my own stuff by eyeball and it's free. I had to do some spot repairs on my dad's '65 GMC last year and I didn't have to buy any paint, and the match was better than anything I've ever gotten from the paint store.

But I still had to buy primer and clear. Even getting the Napa generic stuff, was still well over $400. Paint materials are not cheap.

 

I don't mind spraying extra to get coverage. It would have to be a whole lot more though before I approached that $2000 mark for Deltron! When I talked to the guy on the phone I mentioned DBC, but did not know that PPG doesn't make that anymore til after I spoke with him, and the guy didn't say anything while on the phone. He didn't specify what line he was quoting at the time for the Deltron. I have never heard of Matrix, but will check them out too. I'm going to use SPI clear. I've used it before and liked it. Thanks for the info

 

By the way, I was told this color wasn't available in Omni Plus

 

I don't doubt that that's true now. But going back a lot of years I remember hearing that most barns were painted red because that was the least expensive color pigment. Of course I don't ever recall seeing a barn painted metallic or firemist red with clear coat, so . . .

 

we have a place down here that always has close outs or mismatched paint. Sure your colour choices may be limited but there are options. They seem to specialise in PPG and HOK. Hunt around.

 

Had a local painter paint the bed of my swb truck. Bed was off the truck and sanded and ready to paint. This did not include the inside of the bed as it was rhino lined already.
I bought the list of materials he gave me at the only local paint store we have in town.
Paint color was white. Looks like 75% of the white truck color out there.
Materials' cost was $959.00 and labor was $600.00 cash.

 

Paint prices have been b!t$hed about for so long it fits this site!
The OG roller paint thing started on this site. That's how long!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earl_Scheib
"I'm Earl Scheib, and I'll paint any car, any color for $29.95. No ups, no extras," became an instantly recognizable phrase, with $29.95 the nationally-advertised price even into the late 1960s. With inflation, this increased to $39.95-$59.95 by 1974 and $99.95 in the 1980s.

2024-1973=51 years ago. Bet you don't fit in the shoes and pants you wore then either!

 

Paint prices are definitely ridiculous…this stuff used to be $29.99!

 

its crazy and dont even get started on the waterbase sh#t. enviormental friendly yes but u still use urethane primer and clearcoat ! and spend 80k on a heated spray booth? wtf!