Suggestions for my exterior rebuild.

illestFX35

illestFX35

Member
Location
Los Angeles/Glendale
Car
2010 FX35 RWD
Most of you see my car through pictures and cant see the imperfections on my car. I'm going to be straight up... not the best looking paint out there. The front has about 1000 rock chips. A hole in the bumper, dings and scratches here and there. My roof is lightly sun faded. I've always wanted to tidy up the exterior of my car so I could make it look perfect again, but I never knew I would fall in love with this car so much.
View attachment 316025

Here are the options in my head:

1) Fix the body. Paint the whole car in the original Nissan Midnight Purple (not color changing) or a dark House of Kolors purple. View attachment 316033 This will cost close to $5,000 to get it done right.

2) Fix all imperfections and just repaint the front and blend the car. So it will stay black. The most wallet friendly idea.

If you guys have any other ideas please leave your opinion. Thanks!



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if you have the money, purple, if you wanna save money, fix paint. but I can't see how color change would only be only 5k
 
Not full color change going to prep the exterior and remove bumpers/panels but not strip interior etc. So no painting door jambs, etc. My major concern is having bad quality paint and having it peel up. Dont mind having other parts not painted because its black anyways.


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I need to get around to some paint work on my '09 as well.. Similar rock ships and scratches on the front of mine... Went to a highly recommended local paint shop and was quoted $375 for the front bumper. This would include them removing the entire bumper, repairing any dings/chips/scratches and painting it in their spray/bake booth (multiple base coats and multiple clear coats)... Quoted me $400 for each door panel with the same treatment and they'd fade the surrounding panels for free..

2) Fix all imperfections and just repaint the front and blend the car. So it will stay black. The most wallet friendly idea.
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Was your paint quote in a similar range for your bumper?
 
GFortFX said:
I need to get around to some paint work on my '09 as well.. Similar rock ships and scratches on the front of mine... Went to a highly recommended local paint shop and was quoted $375 for the front bumper. This would include them removing the entire bumper, repairing any dings/chips/scratches and painting it in their spray/bake booth (multiple base coats and multiple clear coats)... Quoted me $400 for each door panel with the same treatment and they'd fade the surrounding panels for free..


Was your paint quote in a similar range for your bumper?
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I did get a similar quote. I got 700 bucks to redo the full front end and fade but my bumper is cracked so that would be on me. He said he will repaint my grill as well. And I will most likely get a cool looking bash bar instead of replacing my damaged bumper
 
Option 2! Just keep it looking factory. I worry about what a fully repainted car does for resale (although I know you have no intention of selling it).
 
I would just get the bumper repainted and wrap the roof in CF vinyl and call it the day. Black is the best color for me for these 2nd gen.
 
I wouldn't want to repaint a car, personally.
I'd get a new bumper, maybe facelift the front end to '12+ while you're at it with a Sport Package black grill if you like that look. Repaint only what's truly needed, and get the whole thing paint corrected and buffed with CeramicPro protection. Will look new and fresh after that, will be the cheapest approach, and will retain the most resale value.
 
Made my mind up and the answer will be here in the upcoming years... Figured that its a nice reliable daily as it is so I will drive it for at least 2 more years and then rebuild the whole car. It will then become a dedicated project car. There is so much I have in mind for the car right now but I just cant do it because it is my A to B car and its not smart to buy another daily and own 5 cars right now. It will be a lot less busy in a couple years too. My FX is one of those cars you cant let go of. One of the best cars I've owned. #MidnightPurpleFX :)


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illestFX35 said:
Made my mind up and the answer will be here in the upcoming years... Figured that its a nice reliable daily as it is so I will drive it for at least 2 more years and then rebuild the whole car. It will then become a dedicated project car. There is so much I have in mind for the car right now but I just cant do it because it is my A to B car and its not smart to buy another daily and own 5 cars right now. It will be a lot less busy in a couple years too. My FX is one of those cars you cant let go of. One of the best cars I've owned. #MidnightPurpleFX :)
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so you have 4 cars now? Why aren't you using one of the other ones as DD if you really want to build up the FX?
 
myron02 said:
so you have 4 cars now? Why aren't you using one of the other ones as DD if you really want to build up the FX?
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I have my business truck Silverado 3500 which I use ONLY when Im at work It also has a rack on it so its not useful as a daily. I have my FX35 which is my daily. My R35 GTR which is currently my weekend car. And a E90 3 series which my wife currently drives. Its not that I don't have the money to build the FX and buy another daily, its just that its not smart to do all of this now. I am very busy with all thats going on with business, and I am very positive that in a couple years, I will have some more time on my hands.


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illestFX35 said:
I have my business truck Silverado 3500 which I use ONLY when Im at work It also has a rack on it so its not useful as a daily. I have my FX35 which is my daily. My R35 GTR which is currently my weekend car. And a E90 3 series which my wife currently drives. Its not that I don't have the money to build the FX and buy another daily, its just that its not smart to do all of this now. I am very busy with all thats going on with business, and I am very positive that in a couple years, I will have some more time on my hands.


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ahhh I see. Well then it makes sense why you don't DD other vehicles
 
Depending on location, you could get a decent color change for $5K including door jambs and such. Probably not under the hood though. This would exclude really custom colors though.

Honestly I'd say fix the damage and wrap the car if you really want to change the color. I used to have custom painted cars that were in a lot of shows but also daily driven. It was a huge PITA to deal with as both were custom mixed colors so no paint codes to reference and they were multi stage with pearl and metallic in the clear so they sort of color changed. Had to get the front bumpers repainted about once a year since they couldn't be touched up.

It also sucks for resale since you can't return the car to stock. You basically have to sell it complete and there's a very limited market for it. This was 10-15 years ago though and you couldn't wrap a car since the vinyl technology wasn't what it is today. Right now one of my cars is wrapped. When I get ready to sell it, peel the wrap, part it out and done. So much easier.
 
shadow191 said:
Depending on location, you could get a decent color change for $5K including door jambs and such. Probably not under the hood though. This would exclude really custom colors though.

Honestly I'd say fix the damage and wrap the car if you really want to change the color. I used to have custom painted cars that were in a lot of shows but also daily driven. It was a huge PITA to deal with as both were custom mixed colors so no paint codes to reference and they were multi stage with pearl and metallic in the clear so they sort of color changed. Had to get the front bumpers repainted about once a year since they couldn't be touched up.

It also sucks for resale since you can't return the car to stock. You basically have to sell it complete and there's a very limited market for it. This was 10-15 years ago though and you couldn't wrap a car since the vinyl technology wasn't what it is today. Right now one of my cars is wrapped. When I get ready to sell it, peel the wrap, part it out and done. So much easier.
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Considered wrapping as well... But no matter who wrapped the car or how much $$$ is spent in my honest opinion does not look high quality. Paint is just my personal preference and Midnight Purple is a OE Nissan color (LP2). And resale... well I'll just have to deal with it.


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Agreed that wrap is never going to look exactly like paint. It will never have the depth of paint since there isn't really a clear on it and most wraps have a bit of "orange peel" up close. And if you look close enough on most wrapped cars you can tell that they're wrapped since the work is never perfect no matter how good the installer is. But for a lot of people it's a good option that isn't permanent.

If you want paint but are looking for a more budget friendly option, maybe paint it a different shade of black. My 1st gen is black and a while back I considered repainting it due to little rock chips and so on. I thought about having it resprayed black but with maybe some sort of metallic flake or pearl. That way you don't have to pay for the labor of painting door jambs and pulling part of the interior but it's still a little different. Just a thought.
 
shadow191 said:
Agreed that wrap is never going to look exactly like paint. It will never have the depth of paint since there isn't really a clear on it and most wraps have a bit of "orange peel" up close. And if you look close enough on most wrapped cars you can tell that they're wrapped since the work is never perfect no matter how good the installer is. But for a lot of people it's a good option that isn't permanent.

If you want paint but are looking for a more budget friendly option, maybe paint it a different shade of black. My 1st gen is black and a while back I considered repainting it due to little rock chips and so on. I thought about having it resprayed black but with maybe some sort of metallic flake or pearl. That way you don't have to pay for the labor of painting door jambs and pulling part of the interior but it's still a little different. Just a thought.
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I personally saw a Toyota Sienna wrapped in matte charcoal vinyl by Unlimited Wraps and you wouldn't never tell that it was wrapped. I was shocked how good the wrap was up close. Of course it only applies to matte/satin and new "no orange peel" chrome vinyls.

Rey2.jpg
 
shadow191 said:
Agreed that wrap is never going to look exactly like paint. It will never have the depth of paint since there isn't really a clear on it and most wraps have a bit of "orange peel" up close. And if you look close enough on most wrapped cars you can tell that they're wrapped since the work is never perfect no matter how good the installer is. But for a lot of people it's a good option that isn't permanent.

If you want paint but are looking for a more budget friendly option, maybe paint it a different shade of black. My 1st gen is black and a while back I considered repainting it due to little rock chips and so on. I thought about having it resprayed black but with maybe some sort of metallic flake or pearl. That way you don't have to pay for the labor of painting door jambs and pulling part of the interior but it's still a little different. Just a thought.
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Actually... that's a good point. I could just sand the paint down with 600 then put a base coat and maybe a violet pearl on top then some clear. I gotta hit up my brotha and see what pearls he can add.


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Just repaint what needs to be painted, and if you want to switch it up, go vinyl. You'll be able to do both for less than the cost of the purple paint ($5k+)
 
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