Things you Should Know Before Painting Your Vehicle
Are you planning to give your vehicle a fresh lick of paint? If so, don’t rush into getting the job done as there is a whole host of things you need to take into consideration if you want your car or van to look top notch once painted.
The first thing you need to think about is whether you can afford to re-paint your car and, importantly, is it worth the cost. When re-painting your vehicle, the highest cost will be that of the paint, and you should never try to cut corners or the end result will not be good. If your car is an older model it will have dropped considerably in value so not worth the expense of painting it.
Firstly check the value of your vehicle on a reputable site such as Parkers. Then, as a general rule of thumb, if the cost of the paint job is more than 25% of its value, it might be best for you to just forget about painting the vehicle and instead keep driving it until you’re ready to replace it.
Changing the Colour
Re-painting a vehicle can seem like a good opportunity to change its colour.
In fact, it maybe the prospect of a colour change that has led you to consider painting it in the first place. However, the team at IPS Paint Supplies advises that a colour change will require a more expensive paint job.
You also need to be mindful that there are many choices of paint which can be confusing. Your choice will largely depend on what type of vehicle you are planning to paint. At IPS Paint Supplies we stock a wide range of vehicle paints suitable for many different types of vehicles – ranging from cars to vans and lorries.
Preparing Your Vehicle Before Painting
Prior to re-painting your car, you will need to spend a lot of time preparing it and in particular sanding it down to achieve a completely smooth finish.
Good preparation involves removing various parts of the vehicle that don’t need painting, like the rubber trim, signals and tail-lights to prevent “a perceivable line between the painted parts and the unpainted parts”.
However, you may not have the experience and expertise to do all of this yourself, which brings us onto our next piece of advice.
Should You Paint Your Car Yourself?
In most cases, we would say no. Some people may be able to handle the task but it is a challenge which many of us would find daunting.
This is why we recommend using the services of a professional body shop. The cost may be a little higher up front but, in the long run, you will avoid the risk of your vehicle looking ‘tacky’ and evident that you have done a DIY paint job yourself. Again, the rule of thumb is get the value of your vehicle checked first and ensure that the cost of a professional job is not more than 25% of the value.
If you do decide to do it yourself, IPS Paint Supplies has a complete range of paint products for a wide range of vehicles and we also offer a colour matching service.
To find out more, click here or call a member of our team on the number below:
