2nd Gen Non-Engine/Transmission Paint Estimate for 1997 3500

[Mike Ellis]

Took a vacation day today to get some work done, decided to get an estimate from Dodge for the infamous "peeling paint" syndrome. My truck isn't peeling yet, but it has thousands of little pencil-point size "pimples" all over the paint which I am told is prelude to peeling.



Took it to the Dodge dealer in Cleburne and they don't do any paint and body work. When I expressed displeasure over a 6 year old truck having the paint in such sad shape, the service manager type told me solemnly that they don't have a lot of problems with paint now, "They only had problems up until '95".



They sent me down the road to the guy they use for collisions, who seemed like a pretty good old boy. He told me they see quite a few Dodge trucks that need painting, and he already had the parts book dogeared to the section for the 3500 side molding. With molding replaced and the truck stripped down, reprimed, painted, and clear coat he quoted me $2100 with a warranty as long as I own the truck. $2100! Yeow. Guess I shouldn't be mad though because it was cheaper than what I had been told to expect. Actually would have been more expensive in this case too, but I already have the bed covered with Line-X so that saves some work.



Interesting note: He said they frequently repaint brand new cars from GM, Ford, and Dodge that have the paint peeling or chipped on delivery. They had just finished fixing up a couple of brand new PT Cruisers when I arrived.



Next order of business: the "Peeling Paint" website approach to small claims court against DC.



Keep a close eye on your paint fellas...

 

[Dkevdog]

I don't think $2100 is all that bad a price, truth be told. If he is gonna use the high quality paints, he will have about $400 - $500 just in paint materials. I was quoted anywhere from $2300 to $3550 to repaint my 96' 2500 before I sold it. Just remember how much cheaper it is than truck payments .



Kev

 

[CMNS PWR]

Sounds like a good price. I was quoted $750 just to redo my hood! I said screw that. Decided to get a new cowl hood and paint it cheaper than that.

 

[Cooker]

Dodge used to have a paint warranty. I can't remember if it was 5yr/100k or 7yr/100k. Just a thought.

 

[illflem]

If you have time to take DC to small claims court you will win.

$2100 is a good deal but worth a lot of my my time.



Instructions here http://peelingpaint.homestead.com/

 

[BillGotthelf]

My 96 paint started cracking on the roof -it looked like someone took a razor blade to the roof in all different directions. I had the truck body painted (bed is custom aluminum) by a friend who owns a body shop-$450 cash.

 

[DPugh]

What color is the truck? Even if its white or black its still a great deal. I worked for a bodyshop and we started at $2000. Just mask, scuff, seal then base and clear. Sounds pretty reasonable. Paint costs a lot more than everyone thinks depending on who makes it. I put a cowl induction hood on my truck and paid close to $300 for paint and materials. My cost. I even mixed the color myself.

 

[Mike Ellis]

DPugh,



My truck is the common "Flame Red", I think that is what it is called. In this part of Texas it is very very common, don't know if it will be more or less expensive than the black / white paints.



As some pointed out in the thread, $2100 is not out of the ball park for a paint job. My gripe, and the is the fact the truck is a '97 and the paint flat shouldn't be coming off at this stage of the game.



I'm with Illflem on this one, my truck is a substantial investment and right now its value is reduced quite a bit because of the premature paint failure. Paint it or sell it, either way the bad paint takes money out of my pocket that should be sitting there comfortably. I reckon I can suffer a good bit of bureaucracy for $2K+, I'll let ya'll know how it goes... .

 

[Cooker]

Good luck. Let us know how it all turns out.

 

[DPugh]

Hope everything goes good Mike.

Red is THE most expensive factory color to buy as a basecoat. White and Black are the least expensive because there are very few toners that go in the basecoat color. I recently painted a Honda Prelude Chysler Candy Apple Red. Over $400 just for color!!!!!! I agree that the truck should not have any delamination problems this early. I have repainted dozens of late 80's early 90's Chevy pickups and vans due to the poor quality of sealer used by the factory. Recently my Sherwin Williams jobber said out of the BIG three Chrysler has the highest quaility paint jobs as far as the amount of material. Too much material however can lead to problems like you are having. Ford came in second and GM was last. Again good luck, hope you get something figured out.



Derek

 

[Bill Lins]

Mike- you might want to PM redram- he had his redone about a year ago & DC picked up part of the cost. Sure seems to be a problem with red- Shrimpy's has gone bad, also.

 

[DPugh]

Hey Mike,

Im trying to think of how the moldings come off on that year truck. What does the trim look like? Normally there is no clips and double sided acrylic foam tape is generally used on about 75% of todays trucks. Do you have a special trim package?. If they cant put it back on with tape I would suggest that they take it off and replace it. When you mask a flush mounted molding off you always have a chance of the paint peeling back again, and I know you dont want that. The problem with that is the clear coat that is applied, generally two or three coats builds up extremely fast. Also the paint flows out which means it will build up more right on that edge that is masked off. Paint flow is very important to the overall look of the job. The more the paint flows the less orange peel or texture you have in the finish.

In time I can almost bet you will have problems, no matter how good the molding is masked off. I have painted a few older trucks that people want me to tape off the molding because they dont want to pay the labor to remove and install it. A year or two later they come back wondering why the paint is peeling. This would be the R&I time on the estimate. If its a big shop most will give you a computer print out that breaks down the operations preformed.

As far as what to look for. I would have to say that if the paint isnt peeling everywhere they wont strip the entire truck. If just the clear coat is peeling back, which is what I have seen most on these trucks, they will feather back the clear coat edge and apply a two part sealer, which means it has a hardener, over the entire truck and go from there. Sealer will give somewhat of a barrier between the factory paint and what they will put on. If its peeling back far enough where the factory sealer usually grey is showing then will strip to metal. I have done a few Rams with delam and usually its just the clear thats peeling. GMs on the other hand had problems with the sealer not being compatible with their topcoats.

When the truck is done look it up and down ESPECIALLY along the body lines to look for runs in the paint. The paint has a tendency to collect in the channels and sag. Also look for excessive texture in the paint. This can be sanded and buffed out along with any dirt nibs. It is easy to miss something when doing a big truck. If you let me know where its starting to look funky along with what those moldings look like I can give you more accurate info on that part of it. If you have any other questions or if you need some more detail please ask. Better to go to the shop informed. Also the service manager saying they only had problems up till 95, I just had a 98 yellow 1500 in. Clear was gone on the bed rails down into the bedsides, and on the roof, and driver door around the door handle.



Derek

 

[CumminFast]

Yeah I got a quote on painting mine the same color and it was $2000. And then to change the color to that 2001-2002 silver would be like $5000!!!!

 

[rholcom2]

Not Bad

Mike,

I have a 98. 5 Quad Cab Short Box. Due to some #()$*()'s idea that it would be fun to key my truck, I got a total paint job done. The place I took it to Ennekings Auto Body, in Batesville, IN quoted $4200, once they got into it, they decided to go further than they had anticipated, when all totaled together, the paint job was 4800, and I bought an aftermarked Ram Air hood, for 600 and paid 100 extra to have it fit on the truck. So all together my DC got about $5500 worth of TLC over the Holidays. But, I have nothing but good things to say about the body shop that did it for me, I am a college student and they knew I would need it to get back to school, and we had shipping problems with my hood and their time table was compressed severly, they did the whole job in 7 working days, and it looks better than factory!!!



GO FOR THE FRESH PAINT!!!!

 

[fmj]

To paint a whole truck for $2100 is cheap, and a good deal. I just painted my wifes 31' Ford, which is a small car, and I spent about $1100 on primer/filler, sealer, base coat, and clearcoat. That didn't include sandpaper, and if you've ever bought 1000 through 2500 grit, that also isn't cheap. Forget the labor we put into it. Get the guy to paint it and you'll have a 10X's better paint job than came from the factory.