Just looking for some pictures and experiences. I went to a local distributor just to see what it was like. My car has peeling clear coat (typical cancer) on the hood and sides. It appears that they don’t do much prep work at all and the plasti-dip product does all the “smoothing” itself. I’m having a hard time believing this but I can’t seem to find anyone with such an experience.
I’m thinking of going this route instead of a normal paint job due to cost. The Plasti-Dip would cost $900 for something durable, and I can’t seem to find a regular body shop here that doesn’t look at me funny when I say “I just want a paint job – not an insurance claim”. There’s no freaking car-modification scene over here and it’s beginning to get old. I can’t get a quote for a normal paint job besides Maaco.
I like it for some things but I don’t like the idea of doing an entire car. I don’t have first hand experience with having an entire car done but it seems to me that it wouldn’t be the easiest thing to keep looking good and clean. I did a set of wheels and they looked pretty good but couldn’t stand up to the heat from track day use, daily driving seems to be fine for people though.
Personally I just think you’re between a rock and a hard place Neil. Getting a good paint job on an old car like ours often isn’t worth it. Anything under a 1-2 thousand bucks is likely going to be junk unless you have some sort of hookup. Good quality paint and supplies will cost $500+ (high end stuff can be into the thousands) and there’s a LOT of labor involved in a paint job if you’re doing it right. A full re-spray done to a high near OEM standard is likely going to run $4000-6000. A lot of this depends on what your standards in terms of being picky and how long you want the paint to last. Plasti-dip is just temporary, so I can’t imagine spending $900 on something like that. If you shop around you could maybe get a OK paint job for $1500-$2500 depending on what prices are like in your area and who you know. Personally I think that’s money much more well spent than $900 on a temporary plasti-dip. If you don’t care about overspray, door jambs, making sure all the moldings/seals are still in tact, orange peel…etc you may be happy with a paint job that’s not much more expensive than plasti-dip.
That’s exactly it Colin, I don’t want to drop thousands on a paint job and then get rear-ended by some moron. If I had oodles of money this wouldn’t be an issue. Sigh. I just want the car to look presentable again. I really don’t like the situation.
That’s the entire idea of PlastiDip, is the lack of prep and the ability to un-do the job with no permanent after effects.
The cleaner and smoother the initial surface (no sanding, simply removing surface oils etc) means the easier it will be to peel the dip off when you’re tired of it.
If someone is sanding the entire car down to dip it, they’re doing it very wrong.
While it is great for small pieces here and there, like Colin said, I’m not big on the idea of doing a full car.
It may make the vehicle look a bit better, but it will do absolutely zero to prevent your cancer from growing or getting worse.
If you can get a decent deal, go for it… but a quality dip job in my area is still over 1k.
Plastidipped a set of LS mesh wheels. The crap would not come off except in tiny chunks at a time, was no fun to remove. Keep that in mind as a possibility.
My friend had the same problem with his rims on his mini. When he redid them he put a couple more coats and it came off much easier next time. The more coats you do the thicker it will be and in return easier to come off when the time comes.
If you are willing to learn to do some body work (it’s not that hard, just time consuming), you could do the prep yourself and search for someone to paint it for $800-900. That would still fit your budget. I think “okay” body work with a nice professional paint job would be a better idea if you are willing to spend money. It may not be the caliber of the 2l-3k paint job but honestly it will look damn good and you won’t be stressing about daily dings etc. Personally, I can’t think of a reason to use plastidip on anything.
Neil, many of us are in this same boat. I am looking at some body work to fix fender rust spots on the db1 I just picked up in Feb, and have been seriously considering a whole-car vinyl wrap down the road. I can get a color close to Frost White, it seems fairly straightforward (possibly DIY) and decently affordable, and there are reports that it is a good long-term alternative to a professional paint job. Still researching, but it might be something you could consider.
I did my hood and hatch , just to get a cleaner look to the peeling clear coat.check out dipyoucar.com tbey have all you need to do the job. If you have questions you call the up and ask ,the guy is very noligable and will help you out.i paint the hood and trunk with their carbon fiber looking kit and most people cant tell the differance until i pop my hood. Im saving up to do body workand paint later on