Why are car paint jobs so expensive?

Why are car paint jobs so expensive?

Because they're a shitton of work.

Try some DIY work and you will quickly learn.

>disassemble car
>sand all painted surfaces
>buy gallons of paint
>buy gallons of primer
>buy gallons of clearcoat
>mix it perfectly so its the color you want
>spray all painted surfaces with primer
>2-5 coats
>spray paint color(s) you want
>2-5 coats
>spray clearcoat
>2-3 coats
>bake in oven
>sand and repeat if wanted
>reassemble car

Why though?

Genuinely curious. I've painted houses. What makes automotive paint so hard?

What's the process

It's all labor hours.
The consumables can be pretty expensive, but it's mostly all labor hours.

An enormous amount of prep work, mainly. You're gonna see any imperfections from the early stages in the final product.

>I've painted houses
And apart from paint being something you apply to a work surface there are zero similarities between painting houses and painting cars.

Disassembling takes a long time.
Metal work, if needed.
Primer and block sanding by hand takes hours. Any imperfection will show on the car.

Ignoring that latex paint is extremely cheap, you're still only paying someone 15/hr to do it and there's no prep.
Pay someone twice that and tack on a bunch of prep hours and it adds up quickly.

You pay for quality, my cars been painted over a few times, eventually paint starts chipping, bubbles show up, a little bit of rust on the corner of the bondo,

>zero similarities
What about that 12-pack of cheap beer?

All this. Plus add in matching and blending for the paint and all the after work. My dad owns a paint and body shop and paint work is a pain in the ass. Even experienced guys can end up spraying orange peel or getting little granules in the paint.

Takes a lotta work and prep with tons of attention to detail. It is an art which is why you should avoid taking your shit to maaco.

If this is a serious post then you are a dumb shit.

>I've buttered bread, how hard can plastering be?

i built a car with legos how hard could engineering be?

>I've painted houses. What makes automotive paint so hard?

Latex house paint doesn't need to be cured like automotive paint.

But here's the damning thing. Imagine if your house latex paint had to have a smooth mirrorlike shining finish like a car does. Can you imagine any car with the lumpy wavy surface of house paint? It would be incredibly ugly and horrible.

>Genuinely curious. I've painted houses.
Go take a look at the side of a house. Imagine that surface on your car.

>I've painted houses. What makes automotive paint so hard?

Picture shows comparison of house paint versus car paint.

You are obviously in way over your head here, but why is it then that house painters make more money?

>i built a car with legos how hard could engineering be?
It's basically the same thing desu
t. automotive engineer

I've seen Rustoleum applied to a car with a paint roller. After buffing and polishing it looks just as good as any other vehicle. If you want longevity add a couple clearcoats on top.

>BULLSHIT: the post
t. loves rattlecan revival

>car with a paint roller.
>it looks just as good as any other vehicle

Everyone should switch to paint rollers then. It's certainly cheaper than buying or renting gear to paint a car.