Small bodyshop guys

AAE

Learner
Would you mind telling me how much you charge for a basic panel repair, no blending into another panel, a basic bumper repair(not replacement) and what your rates are? How many hours do you charge for these types of damages? I maybe facing some competition and want to be sure I am in the ballpark but not in left field.

This guy that has me flustered painted a truck topper, total color change from grey to red, for $300. That seemed really cheap to me.

Remember please, that I do work for dealerships. Pricing thoughts are appreciated.
 
I think it's a mistake to go after the bottom end. I have done toppers or camper shells for $300 in the past, but only in a solid color like black or white. Now I do them for $400 for cheap colors and $500 for expensive colors. This is just a scuff seal and shoot.

There are guys in my town that will beat that price all day long though, and guess what, they can have them! I'm not trying to price myself out of the market exactly, but to use good materials and procedures you can only go so low. We'll see what a bargain the lower price jobs are down the road.

As to the other stuff, most vehicle models are in my estimating software, so it's whatever the book says. Usually to pull a bumper cover off and shoot it runs about $350-$400.

The rates here in Southern Idaho are $48 body and paint, $30 material. I think the material rate is on the low side.
 
I have quoted about 8 vehicles in the last two months. So far I have gotten none accepted.
On the Ford F70 cab the guy wanted a color change from red to white. This would include jambs and underside of front clip.
Quoted him $985.00. He said Maaco quoted him $800 and (get this) a "real" paint shop quoted him over $1100.00. True I work out of my garage but I have two vehicles here for him to see my work and all he did was tell me how "he didn't need a show quality paint job." LOL

He decided to hold off on having it painted because he didn't want to spend that much.
 
Ok, how much to fix a dented tailgate. A guy asked me how much to repair a big ding in his 2007 chevy pickup truck tailgate. Its black. I told him $200 to pull and repair the dent, and reshoot the outside of the tailgate. No response. oh well.
 
I am not in the car painting business but I have no idea how one could fix a dent and purchase the necessary supplies for 200 dollars? Ditto on a repaint of a truck for $985.00.

I am interested in what people are charging per man hour though. I was a little confused by 48 paint and body and 30 material? Does that mean 30 dollars for every man hour added in material use? Makes sense but just learning about business models other than my own.
 
its just human nature for people to think this is easy, cheap work.

When the guys tell me "well maaco said they could do it for this" after i give them a quote...i say well take it to them, have a nice day.

If someone is really beating you up over 185 bucks, no reason to even try to do it.
 
$985, man that would not cover the materials. i did a color change on a mb last year. went from a creme color to a metallic red. $5g. not sure why he put that kind of money into a car thats worth less than that but whatever. a color change with jambs and a lightly sanded and buffed finish would start at $4g on up depending on the color.
 
It is extremely hard to tell someone how to price repair work. Body shops price the repairs based on "so many repair hours" for the damage. They then add "so many paint hours" plus "materials cost" per paint hours. Of course, doing it that way, the cost for materials works only for shops that have "mixing banks" for mixing their own paints, and also only for normal colors.

Since I am stuck doing collision work during the day, I refuse to do it at night. I will say this though. I refuse to try to price my work in an attempt to beat someone elses price. If someone tells me that they have a price from someone else for less, I tell them to take the job there, as I am not interested in the work. There is always someone else willing to do a job for less.
 
I've noticed that when someone says "I don't need a show quality job" it usually means that they are in the wrong place. It's one of those key phrases that says "I'm cheap."
 
lol those are my favorites. next thing you know they are laying down on the ground checking out how straight the rocker panel is.
 
Jim C;8939 said:
$985, man that would not cover the materials. i did a color change on a mb last year. went from a creme color to a metallic red. $5g. not sure why he put that kind of money into a car thats worth less than that but whatever. a color change with jambs and a lightly sanded and buffed finish would start at $4g on up depending on the color.

It seems most everybody is looking for something for nothing these days. Price of materials climbing steadily and people want you to still give them the $750 "deal" to paint their car.
I cut that quote close looking for a quick turn around job while I am still waiting from chrome for the Buick. Uugghhh!
 
jeremyb;8934 said:
its just human nature for people to think this is easy, cheap work.

When the guys tell me "well maaco said they could do it for this" after i give them a quote...i say well take it to them, have a nice day.

If someone is really beating you up over 185 bucks, no reason to even try to do it.

no doubt, save your time and energy on a job that actually comes in. I do this as a hobby and a second small income so its no skin off my nuts if someone doesnt want something done. The last complete I did, which I posted pics of was a $5500 job. And this was my buddy. He had no questions paying it, it was done right and I used good materials.
 
fact is, most people have no idea what they are talking about. no one really WANTS to spend a fortune into doing these cars..unless their pockets are just deep. You gotta do a little coaxing sometimes. One time i told a guy "I only do quality, long lasting work.....if thats not something you want, then i understand" I'll be damned if it worked...honestly probably pissed the guy off at himself and i got the job.

There is a whole lot more "salesmanship" in this job than i figured when i started out.
 
had a guy ask me once " is that the best you can do? " told him well no i could add a few thousand i guess.
the cheapest shop is the busiest shop in town, and also dead broke all the time.
 
jeremyb;8962 said:
One time i told a guy "I only do quality, long lasting work.....if thats not something you want, then i understand" I'll be damned if it worked...honestly probably pissed the guy off at himself and i got the job.

thats funny, i tell stuff like that to people al the time. just the other day told someone if they want something that looks like it belongs on a t-shirt then they can go down the street to this other shop.
 
dbohemian;8933 said:
I am not in the car painting business but I have no idea how one could fix a dent and purchase the necessary supplies for 200 dollars? Ditto on a repaint of a truck for $985.00.

I am interested in what people are charging per man hour though. I was a little confused by 48 paint and body and 30 material? Does that mean 30 dollars for every man hour added in material use? Makes sense but just learning about business models other than my own.

What they mean by $48 an hour is. If the crash guide says repaint a fender for says 2 hours, then you would pay 48x2 and material charge.

The estimate State farm just wrote to repaint Andy's infinity to repaint all over, just for paint no panel replacement included was 26 hours and the rate paid was $48 per hour to the drip shop.
The body work is separate as there is no new roof skin to be found as its a rarer model, so the bodyman is getting 9 hours to wipe and the sunroof is contracted out along with the front and rear glass with seperate charges, that were not on the estimate.
 
Barry: Drip shop? Never heard that one.

The $30/hr is paid on refinish hours from the flat rate guide. If a panel gets 3.0 hours to refinish, $90 of material will be paid. This does not apply to body time. Body repair materials like sandpaper and filler have traditionally been included in the labor rate as "incidentals," though specialty materials like adhesives and seam sealers rate an extra line item charge.
 
So if I have this straight you could take the number of hours estimated for labor and then multiply by $78 for your estimate to cover materials and labor? (without panel replacement)
 
"68"
That would give you the info for the paint labor and materials. Any body labor would be more, as in based on the "body hours" on the estimate.

Example: To repair a door with 3 hour dent and 3 hour paint time would be $144 for body repair, $144 for paint labor, plus $90 for paint materials. That is $378 total for the repair.
 
The guy is dropping his tailgate off Sunday. Went to 3 bodyshops and all quoted him $350+.

Only reason I can do it for $200 is that I have most of the supplies left over from previous jobs that other people paid for. Only thing I need is the black, and that will be about $25 for a pint.
 
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