Painting motorhome

[Frank Hurst]

I have a 2003 Phaeton MH which I had painted in 2007. After 10 years the clear coat has began to separate pretty badly especially on the front cap. I have gotten two quotes. One for $4,500 to do a retouch up all over where there is pealing. Second quote is for repainting the whole MH for $8,000. One reason that I am leaning towards the full paint job, I am afraid that the clear coat will peal in other places soon.  At 79 years of age I know that I may have the MH up for sale before long. Was not planning on spending $8,000.

Advise.

Frank

 

[Triple Slide Jayco]

Shop around.

OR

Take it back to who painted it first and see if they can have a heart for the work they did that didnt hold up.? Maybe they can give a second time around price break.?

OR

just leave it alone and when the time comes to sell it, hand the quote to the new buyer for the $4500.00 and say, I'll take this off the price.

 

[Terry A. Brewer]

$8000 for a full paint job is really, really cheap...

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

Agree with Terry, even if it's just a single color. A nice 3 or 4 color paint job would run $15k-$20k. For $8k I would not expect much quality.

 

[zmotorsports]

Eight grand for a complete paint job on a motorhome is a deal and a half, IF it is a quality job.  When I was painting, just for a daily driver car or truck they were running in the $5k-$6k range and show jobs went up quickly from there.  And that was using all PPG paints and materials.  The materials of choice is also where shops look to cut corners so don't be afraid to ask the tough questions.

Mike.

 

[jubileee]

I read the $8000 as a re-clear job. Just scuff it and shoot it. Sounds about right to me.

 

[zmotorsports]

Sorry if I read that wrong.  I didn't read it as a re-clear only.  Re-clearing can be done but is risky on metallic colors, solids not quite as bad.  Where the clear has peeled it needs to be sanded/scuffed in order to give the mechanical bond and on metallic colors you can very easily damage the color when doing so. 

The reason I like to do color AND clear at the same time is because you obviously get the mechanical bond required when applying paint followed by clearcoat, however, with fresh paint you also get the chemical bond for a much better overall quality job and longer lasting result.  There are products that you can use to open the pores of the paint to accept a new clear on old color but again, not quite as effective as fresh paint and even then there is a window of time the clear has to be applied to the color for optimum results.

Mike.

 

[blw2]

I think I'd go the touch-up route myself.  If it's a shop you can trust it will no doubt come out looking just fine....perfect maybe not, but who cares!?!  It's a 14 year old coach!  Have the shop do a detail buff out job on the other areas
then take some of the $4k you have left over and go on a top of the line cruise to a place you've always wanted to go....and then come home to a coach that looks pretty darn good!

 

[zmotorsports]

I would be cautious to do a "touch-up buff job" on the remainder of the coach.  I would not buff the coach unless you definitely plan on repainting in the near future.  Buffing the clearcoat removes a microscopic level of clear as well as creates enough heat that clear that is borderline to having the bond fail will definitely start to release from the paint due to the heat making it more susceptible to accelerated peeling.  When I purchased my coach back in 2007 the original owner had drug a tree or something along one area and I had to buff the scratches out.  I knew beforehand this is where the clear would peel first and sure enough several years later I was repainting and clearing those few areas. 

Mike.

 

[Frank Hurst]

Most of the pealing has occurred in the past 1 - 11/2 years. If I don't have the whole coach repainted I may wish that I had it repainted in a year or two. Front cap looks pretty bad. Even though I have taken good care of the coach I would take a big hit the way the front cap looks.

Having it painted by a reliable person who does major MH work. I won't go into the reason but he is giving me a good price. If I used his name people would say "You gave Frank Hurst a lower price". I feel good about the paint job. I will try to show before and after pictures.

Frank

 

[Quillback 424]

Certainly agree with you Frank.

My MH, when two years old, sat through an EF-1 tornado with wind speeds just over 100 mph. The tornado went within about 30 yards of the MH and flipped a long slide topper on the roof which created two holes and scuffed the driver's side with tree limb abrasions and small rock pitting.

Insurance authorized about $14,000, mostly prep and paint, to touch up the paint but after a few attempts at matching colors, and knowing I wouldn't accept it, the repair shop went back to the insurance company for a full paint job for just that one side. Insurance authorized about $24,000 for the entire job and it looks good.

Eight thousand seems like a sweet deal, even though I understand you would rather not pay that just to sell it.

 

[JoelP]

Have you considered a vehicle wrap?  A skilled shop can do a very nice job with a wrap and will allow you to add more than a simple paint job could accomplish. This is a often used for trucks and also aircraft.

Joel

 

[Old_Crow]

What's the cost on a wrap?  I re-read Dougie Brown's thread from '15, where he mentioned a price of $7500 Canadian.  That's only around $5500 US today, and that seems way cheap.  If it holds up on an airplane, I guess it'll hold up to my driving.
Our coaches are comparable.  Mine's an '00 Bounder 36S with one slide.

 

[Frank Hurst]

Going with the touch-up for $4,000.00. Bruce Denton in Red Bay, AL is doing the job. Bruce painted the MH in 2007. It was one of the first MH that he had painted. He did not like the fact that it was pealing and he waned to make it right. He suggested the retouch and I am going with his suggestion.

Frank