Does repainting for touchup on recent model reduce value?

When I bought my 575 there were 2 paint blotches, Ferrari sent someone down to my dealer to look at the car, and they paid to have it fixed, it looked perfect when it was done and certainly did not devalue the car, in fact if I had left it that way it would have. I will tell you this much from my experience, the older the car gets the harder it can be to match the paint.

 

It has been my experince that most if not all Lamborghini's and Ferrari's that do not have clear will have had or will need to have the bumbers resprayed..that why whenever I am asked the question I say I do not know, but most would have. If the bumber and hood ware resprayed and the reason was chips most buyer would have no issue. What we would do is take a few pics of the chips, then respray followed by clear...

 

Rock chips are a huge problem in Colorado. Nevertheless, I opted for no clear bra on my 430 when I got it new. My experience was that the bras themselves get pretty ugly after a while. I have had chips touched up once and when the car gets to 20K, I may have the bumper resprayed. A lot depends on mileage. A bumper respray on a 2K car looks suspicious, on a 20K car seems pretty normal. You can also document the work by taking before and after pics to show no damage. I'll bet also, if you look really hard at your car, you will find some factory "touch up" somewhere. I know mine has. Despite the much ballyhooed paint facility, their finish work leaves a lot to be desired.

Dave

 

let's hope not

http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=212293

 

No, re-spray is very common for Fcars.


Robert

 

Keep this in mind, a very respectable and well known Ferrari and Lambo authorized shop is repainting the hood on my 04 Gallardo. They had to spray a lot of test panels to get it to match. I'd have it done now.

 

Of course a factory spray that's in good condition is more desirable than a resprayed bumper. However it also depends on the quality of the job and where it was done. If the job was perfect, I personally wouldn't use it as a point of negotiation when buying a car. I imagine there are more picky people out there who would label it a "story" car. If I were you, I'd find the most reputable shop accessible to you, respray it and apply a clear brah. Some people think brahs are for women, but it's removable so if you decide to sell it, it won't matter.

-Peter Oh

 

Here is my completely uneducated thoughts on the subject from my experience in the Ferrari world.

Having the front bumper resprayed is considered normal, and maybe to many desirable. Even the US F430 (with its higher stance) sits low to the ground and is a constant target for road debris, sand blasting (of which the softer paint is pretty tolerable), and rock damage. I think that a freshly sprayed (high quality front bumper) should not and does not detract from the value of the car.

But...

Having random areas like a front or rear fender, engine cover, or door resprayed may detract value. Although technically it is no different then having the front bumper sprayed, it is kind of a subconcisous thought. For some reason, if I where in the market for an exotic, a front bumper respray wouldn't make me blink twice, but a rear fender respray would make me uncomfortable. I know it defies logic, but we are often illogical despite our best efforts.

If you elect to have the chips touched up or the car reprayed I think it goes with out reason to get the best job done you can.

If I where you, I would probably drive the heck out of it, let it get chipped up, then have it resprayed when you absolutely cannot stand it. In the mean time have somebody touch them up. This is kind of combintation of the possible answers you selected which might be the right answer for you.

Best of luck

 

Also keep this in mind if deciding on a respray (which I said I believe will reduce value)...

Original high quality paint is always more desirable then aftermarket high quality paint (if the goal is originality, such as own most Ferraris)

However paint condition is still a viable factor of the value of the car. So as the paint degrades (thru chips, abrasions, scratches, etc) the value degrades. Usually this conesides with the estimated value of the car based on mileage (it is accepted that higher mileage cars show more wear). At some point the degadation of the paint is going to lower the value (excessively worn) beyond what a high quality repaint would.

Original, scratched, chipped, and poor quality paint usually degrades the value more then a top notch high quality paint job. Of course if this a survior car from the 60's or 70's this would not be true, but as far as late market goes....

 

this is the way if you must. otherwise, paint causes negative feelings/prices in buyers -- better to just enjoy the car in its natural state.

i was recently saddened to hear my righteous nero strad was "partially repainted to be pefect" by its buyer. to me, the car is ruined. i could care less about minor nearly invisible defects and prefer all original cars... but some are obviously the opposite

 

The car is so low that a re-spray is almost considered maintenance on the car. I would repaint then plasticize the bumper. When I bought my car it was getting done prior to delivery and I was "VERY" happy with it. I plan to re-spray the bumper probably next year and plasticize it.

If you can live with it, great, no worries. If not, get it done and you'll be happier.

Cheers~

 

Paint fading is acutally more prevalent in modern 2 stage paint systems. Paint fading is caused by UVb damage. With newer paint systems that use a base coat of color, once this has become damaged, it is impossible to repair with out paint. Older, single stage paint jobs actuall damage quicker, but since you can polish directly on the color coat you can exfoliate the damage.

Here are three BB's that have original paint (in one case over 30 years old) that look better then the day they where delivered. The good news is that modern clear coats paints are more reslient to UV damage to begin with and if you keep a good coat of wax/sealant on the paint it is really a none issue, considering the living conditions of most Ferrari's.
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Also keep in mind that often 'faded' paint isn't really faded but instead the clear coat picks up a lot microscratching that can 'haze' the paint making it look duller or more white. Also air born contamination that attaches itself to the paint can make it appear faded. In 2005 Ferrari switched to PPG Cermaclear paint which is amazingly durable at fighting UV damage.


Going one step further, if you find a competent detailers who knows how to do touch up work, you can get very close to perfect results (at least to hold you over) until you are ready from a respray. Here are a couple more pics of a deep scratch that was touched up on an F430.
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+1

 

One last comment from the peanut gallery. Does everyone realize how crummy a Ferrari paint job really is?? I recently viewed a "brand new" F430 straight from the factory with no less than 3 re-sprays on the same rear quarter panel!!

These cars are not dipped in gold! If you want a new or fresh look for the bumper get it repainted. Only caution, I would only settle for a factory authorized repair facility. I am sure plenty of others can do a great job, but thats just me.


Robert

 

I once heard that 30% of the cars that come into Newark are touched up before they get to the dealer. My 430 was not resprayed, but the leather behind the seat was torn when it came in.

 

Symbolic does first rate restorations here in San Diego - call Bill Pierson. But I'm sure you have someone equally good up in LA.

As far as de-valuing the car, just photograph it before and after. The front bumper/valance on my 328 has been resprayed three times, most recently under my ownership, and the car competes/wins at the FCA platinum level. The bonnet was done once, prior to my ownership.

Mine's metallic black, and it took the restoration shop (Bobileff, in this case) three tries with the paint mixing before they had the right amount of metal flake and were ready to paint. They color match to an actual piece of the car - they don't simply mix to the factory paint code.

That said, if it's just "micro" chipping and you have to get close to the car and squint, I'd leave it alone. It's hard, because I'm also a perfectionist, but realistically if I had my whole car resprayed I'd never drive it.

Not just Ferrari, either. A 2005 Mercedes I bought had had the front bumper corner touched up, apparently at the port before being trucked to the dealer in San Diego. It was a poor job and I ended up rejecting the car.

 

Yes there is!
Dave at Premier Motorsport
310-762-9900
1035 E. Bedmar St.
Carson, CA 90746
http://premiermotorsport.us/

I was just down there 2 weeks ago to take a look at the new facility and was blown away. Unbelievably clean, much bigger, and everything is state of the art. Do a search in the SoCal section and you'll find nothing but rave reviews on Premier.

My suggestion: Reshoot the front and then clearbra it. Shouldn't hurt resale value.
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repainting a Fcar is always questioned when a potential buyer comes along. He or she would want to know why it was repainted. If you have proper documentation, such as having the bodyshop detail the reasons for a repaint, then you should be ok. Just keep in mind that you will get many people swayed away because they just will not trust why it was sent to a repair shop.

 

If you go to a place like Premier and spend the money required to do a first-rate job, you'll be happy and I don't think it'll reduce the value of the car one bit.

What would reduce the value of the car is trying to sell it with the front-end all road-rashed.

I agree with one of the previous posters who said have Premier shoot it, let the paint cure and then wrap the entire front end. I've done the complete clear-wrap on both my F430 and Gallardo and feel SO much better about driving in traffic.

Two weeks ago we did a 6 hour round-trip drive to Thunderhill Raceway with 6 hours of track time in-between. The entire front-end of my car is flawless after all the tracking and in-traffic driving. I wish I could say the same about my windshield!

I'll have the pros at Premier Protective Films up here in the Bay Area wrap any new car I buy from now on...

Good luck, get the work done and don't sweat it.

Frank

 

Your car is only a virgin once. I recommend leaving the OEM paint alone. The paint chipping is called patina, and there's nothing wrong with it unless it is extreme.
I ran and owned a body shop that did lots of high end cars for 20 years. I always discouraged owners from painting for minor chips and even door dings. (go paintless dent removal)
Put the 3M clear bra on the front end if you want to stop the process. By not painting the front end, your resale value will most likely stay higher, and the pool of potential buyers will definately be larger also.
This philosophy probably cost me $100k over the years, but I firmly believe in it.

 

Todd, that is some great work. I can see where you painted over the scratch, sanded, compounded and left literally no trace of your efforts. You are very talented. What order of grit to compound was used?