How to Paint a Car

A DIY car paint job could save you thousands of dollars. Here how to do it.

Painting your car and painting a wall in your house are far from the same thing. One requires a few paint rollers, and a can of paint while the other involves a litany of products, clear coats, primers, and sprayers.

That’s why professional auto paint jobs can’t get so pricey. The process is complex and there’s some skill involved, but that doesn’t mean you can’t give your car a new look by yourself.

Follow our guide below for a quick primer on how to paint your car yourself:

What You’ll Need

First, you’ll need time. A paint job can take anywhere from several days to a couple of weekends, so finding a shed or garage—or something shielded from the elements—is a big plus, but you can get by if you take certain precautions. Once you secured your painting location and set aside time to get the job done, you’re ready to gather your materials.

You’ll need more than just paint. Essential tools include 1200- and 2000-grit wet-and-dry sandpaper, an electric sander, masking tape, an air compressor or a spray gun, newspapers for masking off, face masks, safety glasses, and paint thinners.

And if you can afford a dust extractor, get one. It’s not essential but will help keep the air free of debris.

For a small- or medium-sized vehicle, you’ll need approximately one gallon of base coat or primer, three gallons of topcoat, and two to three gallons of clear coat. Larger vehicles will require about one and a half gallons of base coat, four gallons of topcoat, and three to four gallons of clear-coat lacquer. These amounts are likely more than what you’ll need—and professionals will use less—but it’s better to have too much paint as opposed to too little.

If you want to match the original color of your car, find the color code located on your car’s compliance plate. An auto paint shop will also be able to match it.

Preparation

Once you have your supplies, you should move onto preparing your workstation. First, clean your working area. If you’re working inside a shed or garage, sweep the floors and make sure you have plenty of space to work. Obstacles in the way will only make the job harder.

If you’re working outside, hose down the area with water to settle the dust and do not paint underneath a tree or anything else for that matter. Contaminants can drop onto the wet paint, ruining the finish. Then, wash the car, removing any surface contaminants such as dirt, grease, and road grime.

Before you start sanding and applying primer, decide what you want to paint. Do you want to paint the engine bay, trunk, or inner doorsills? Painting these can add time and complexity to the project, especially if you’re going to paint the engine bay, which could require some mechanical knowledge to remove the engine and other accessories. If you’re looking to improve the exterior, mask off the areas you don’t want to paint.

Stripping

With your work area clean and a shelf full of painting products, you’re now ready to get to work. You’ll start by sanding in circular motions, removing the clear coat, top coat, and base coat. This can be done with a sander, though you’ll like have to sand the corners and crevices by hand.

To achieve the best finish, sand the entire car back down to the bare metal, giving the new prime coat a perfectly smooth surface to adhere to. If you’re operating under a time constraint, then sand the surface to as smooth and as even as possible.

Once the car is stripped to your desired surface, wipe down the exterior with a clean rag and paint thinners. This will help remove any dust, and then wait until any residue from the thinners evaporates before continuing.

Priming

Mask off the areas you don’t want to paint and then mix the primer with the thinners. You’ll need to read the instructions for the correct ratio.

Before you begin painting, it’s best to practice. The best way to practice is to get a cheap used car panel from a junkyard or a piece of steel if lugging a door home isn’t your cup of tea. Hold the spare gun approximately six inches from the panel and spray in a side-to-side sweeping motion. You’ll want only to apply the trigger when you’re moving the spray gun. If you continuously hold the trigger down, you’ll get a continuous spray of paint. This will lead to the paint being thicker in some spots which could cause the paint to run.

With your painting technique mastered, you can start applying the primer to the car. You’ll want to work from the roof down, applying it in thin, even coats. It usually takes two or three coats to cover a surface. Each coat will take about 10 minutes to apply per vehicle panel and another 20 minutes-to-an-hour for the primer to cure between coats.

When you’re finished, the primer will have a powdery finish, which you’ll need to smooth with 2000-grit wet-and-dry sandpaper. You’ll also want to clean the spray gun and then wipe down the primed and cured surface with a rag slightly dampened with thinners. Using too much thinner could strip the primer, so be careful.

Painting

Now, you’re ready to paint. Mix the paint with the thinners using the recommended ratios on the paint instructions. You’ll use the same spraying technique you used to apply the primer for the topcoat. Just like the primer, it should take you about 10 minutes per panel to apply the paint and another 20 minutes to an hour for the paint to cure between paint applications.

Apply three to four coats using the recommended drying time specified on the paint can. Before you apply your last coat of paint, remove any powdery residue with 2000-grit wet-and-dry sandpaper and wipe down with a clean rag. Repeat the previous two steps with the clear-coat lacquer.

Before the clear coat dries, remove the masking tape used to mask off the areas you did not want paint applied, but be careful not to get any tape or paper stuck on the wet paint. Then you can let the clear coat cure for the recommended time. Once the clear coat is cured, inspect the finished job for runs or other imperfections. If you find any, you can sand back the affected area with 2000-grit wet-and-dry sandpaper and respray. Buff paint in circular motions with a buffer. Be careful not to burn the paint by holding the buffer in one spot too long.

With some practice and a methodical mindset, a DIY paint job is achievable—and you’ll have the satisfaction of doing it yourself while saving some money.

How Much Does It Cost to Paint a Car?

Know the facts and follow these few tips to get the best paint job for the money.

It can pay—literally and figuratively—to make your old car look almost new with a fresh paint job. First, there’s the psychic pay you get in return for having a good-looking car once again. And then there’s the potential financial payoff when you sell your ride; it should be more valuable. So, how much does it cost to paint a car?

The answer depends on what you want to get from the paint job. How much it costs to paint a car, truck, or SUV varies widely depending on the level of detail in the pre-painting preparation process and the quality of the paint. Are you interested in a quick and economical way to pump up the value of your car before selling it? Then a less expensive paint job could be just fine.

At the other end of the spectrum is a restoration project. If you’re repainting a car or refurbishing a ride you want to keep for a long time, it makes sense to invest considerably more. This is especially true if the car is highly valuable; a cheap paint job will detract from its value should you decide to sell.

Price Ranges for Paint Jobs

Google «how much does it cost to repaint a car,» and you’ll find that there are national chains that charge only a few hundred dollars to paint your car or truck. This might not be a bad option if you’re on a tight budget. But know that there are plenty of potential pitfalls to slapping a cheapo paint job on your car or truck. For starters, the quality of the paint might not match what was originally used on your car. Most newer vehicles, for example, have a clear-coat finish that adds extra work to the repainting process if you want to do it right. Add some repairs to exterior dings and small dents, and these steps can bump the price from several hundred bucks to well over a thousand.

So, think twice if that 1996 Honda Civic you loved in college needs new paint. You don’t want to end up with the most expensive used economy car on the planet. When getting your car painted, here are five essential things to consider:

Decide How Good a Paint Job You Really Need

If your car has only a few minor chips and blemishes, then painting the entire vehicle probably doesn’t make sense. Repainting the hood and touching up door dings should range from $200 to $1000, depending on how much work is required. Keep in mind that where you live can determine the degree of repairs. Cars in hot climates, where sun is the biggest enemy, battle with hazy finishes and faded paint caused by intense heat and damaging rays. This could make touch-up repairs more difficult, since affected areas will likely be large surfaces such as the hood, rear deck, and roof. Then again, cars in cooler climates could have touches of rust beneath the paint that require attention.

Don’t Paint over Problems

You wouldn’t paint your house if the siding was falling off. Never put a thin, superficial, cosmetic cover-up over a structural problem—and painting over dents or rust without addressing serious issues is just that. If your vehicle has lots of dings and some rust, painting over the problems will only make them worse in both the near and long term. A shiny, fresh coat of paint will likely make body damage even more visible, while rusting panels will continue to rot if they’re not properly tended to. Paint is cosmetic, not a means to cover up bodywork issues.

Keep Your Budget Realistic

Let’s say you have an older vehicle with high miles, valued at a couple thousand dollars. It’s looking a little tired, but you love the car, and it’s still running great. Opting for a cheaper repaint in the same color is fine if all you want is a quick exterior freshening for minimal cash outlay. This might hold true if you’re looking to sell this same car. Spending several hundred bucks, maybe a thousand or two, could bump the asking price, though probably not by more than you’ll spend on the paint job. On the other hand, if you have a vehicle that’s either a classic or something with a higher value, skimping on paint can be a recipe for disaster. You could adversely affect the car’s value and potentially be stuck with a finish that’s not even close to what the car looked like when new.

Understand the Work Involved

For an inexpensive paint job, preparation will be minimal, and the shop might not include repairs to rust and door dings. The glass area and other non-painted exterior trim will be covered up before repainting, but that’s about it. From 50 feet away it might look fine, but up close there will be numerous telltale signs it was a surface respray, such as overspray on the rubber gaskets around the windows and on exterior trim, differences in the color of the doorjambs, and spots of overspray where the masking off wasn’t perfect. If you know this going into the process, okay. Just understand what you’re paying for, and check to see if there’s any kind of warranty on the work.

Paying More Gets You a Better Paint Job

The more you pay, the better the paint shop’s preparation. Some shops simply won’t do slapdash, budget work. Some will offer several levels of paint jobs. As you move up the price ladder, shops will remove more trim pieces and items like the head- and taillamps. This ensures the pain will cover sharp bends in the sheetmetal and get into the crevices in the body where the older paint might have shown through. In more expensive paint jobs, the prep will likely also involve sanding off the older paint, fixing exterior damage, and even removing glass. This adds time and money to the process, which is why something along these lines could cost $5000 or more.

For most of us, though, those are far better paint jobs than we’ll ever need for our personal rides. Keep the above five points in mind as you consider a new paint job, and you’ll find it easier to match your needs to your budget.