I have a 19 year old Camry which is in perfectly serviceable condition (60k miles) except the clear coat is bubbling up on the roof panel. Bad paint job on some repair work a few years back, I'd guess. Getting it done professionally would be 50% of the value of the car, so I'm not going to do that. Research says not to DIY auto paint because it'll peel off again in a few years, but I don't have much to lose here.
Anyone ever done their own auto painting? Thoughts/experience?
It could depend on how big the problem areas are and if they are growing. If they are a bunch of small bubbles, you might be able to do something with them, that doesn't involve a whole panel respray. Finding solutions to these types of things, is one thing Youtube is good for, but it could take some searching.
For larger problems, or if you think the whole panel is going to need a re-shoot, eventually, there are two cheap-ish solutions (when compared with a high quality paint job) that might work:
($300 - $1500) First option would be a combo of your work and a shop like Maaco. A major cost of good auto paint work is the prep and good prep work is a major component in a good paint job. If you are willing to do the prep work of sanding, sanding, and more sanding, you might be able to take it to a cheap place like Maaco to get the paint and clear sprayed. Good auto paint is rather expensive and the "cheap" paint still isn't that cheap, but I would guess that the stuff that Maaco uses should last ~10 years, if you do proper prep. There are a lot of videos on how to prep your car for paint on Youtube. The price range is what a quick search gave me on the net and one would think a single panel with little prep (on their end) would be in the $300 range.
(Whole car $400 - $700) Second option is a fairly easy, reversible, non-damaging paint, called PlastiDip. It takes a bunch of flak, but for a certain price point and effort, it's a viable option. As the name implies, it is a plastic paint that you just shoot over your existing paint. If done correctly, you can peal it off, if you don't like it. Price wise, for this, I would think you would want to spray the whole car, because the colors wont match (although, people do paint their roofs different colors, now days). So you would need a spray gun, ~3-6 gallons of Plastidip, and a garage to shoot in. You can buy rattle cans of black at the hardware stores just to test it, if you want. The below Youtube channel has the best How-to videos I have seen for it, along with a bunch of cars they have done. They sell it by the gallon, so it's in their best interest to have people apply it correctly, and advertise for them.
I have used Plastidip on the bottom of my aftermarket bumper for ~6 years, because it is easier to cover scrapes, doesn't cost much, reversible, and looks fine, for what I need it for. There were enough scuffs on it, that I did a complete re-shoot the last time I had the bumper off, a couple years ago. It pealed off easy and left no lasting marks on the underlying paint.
World Famous Peelable Auto Paint.
www.youtube.com
