i have recently scheduled PPF to be applied to my 2007 vantage, from the front bumper to front edge of doors. figured now is the best time to address the 20,000 miles worth of chips (no dents or scratches) that have accumulated in fifteen years. they show up as white on the meteorite silver paint, most likely the minute (1mm max) chips are filled with dried liquid turtle wax. i haven't yet attempted the laborious task of cleaning each one to see if that would be a satisfactory alternative to a respray, but i probably will do that before i make any final decision on the necessity of a respray.

anyone have any recent respray jobs of a similar nature and if so, what are the costs? my local aston service center has a body/paint outfit that does it for them and when i contacted them (supposedly "aston certified body/paint") they came up with a number between 3000 and 3500 dollars to respray the bumper only. anyone have any other numbers?

thanks in advance.

 

That sounds very expensive. I know it isn't the same car but the job wouldn't be too dissimilar but when the clear coat failed on my '10 Jaguar XKR I had the bumper removed and resprayed by a reputable shop then covered in PPF. The respray was around US$600 as was the PPF.

I have recently had a go at fixing the hundreds of stone chips on the bonnet and wings and am still not happy with the job so have got a quote for around US$800 to respray all three panels.

 

Here is an absurd (and highly detailed) quote for a Vantage side skirt removal & respray....no body work, just a few scuffs. This is from an Aston certified shop used by the local dealer. More than a new carbon fiber skirt, but you will note that this quote included covering the steering wheel (?) and apparently a disinfectant.....wheee!

 

I will say, my 2009 Aston's paint finish is practically flawless and glass smooth... much better than my 4 year old Mercedes GLE AMG...

A respray is not the same on every car.

I had hood repainted on a BMW with a Glasurit paint system and it was so smooth, it didn't match the rest of the factory finish...

It's all about time, skill, and your expectations

 

I am in a similar situation with some stone chips on front bumper. AM certified body shop wanted 11K. The AM dealer thought it was around 7K. You'll also have to paint part of the hood to blend it all in.

 

If you decide to have it painted, talk to the PPF shop about timing. Generally, you want to wait some period of time before applying PPF to new paint.

 

ya, that occurred to me too. i'm going to have to talk to the PPF guy anyway to discuss how they plan to prep the paint before applying the PPF. which in my case will be the front bumper, all of the hood and the forward facing part of the mirrors. the whole car will also be buffed out. but before that happens, i plan on experimenting on the chips (they stand out as white, less than a millimeter in diameter), remove any wax buildup and see how it looks. frankly, none of this is necessary. ...i think i need help.

 

Maybe just forget about the PPF and respray until sometime way down the line when it's really worth doing a respray. PPF is no magic savior, you're going to get hit by rocks hard enough to pulverize the paint under it. It only saves you from the little tiny ones

 

you know, you may be right. i've already paid a $500 deposit so maybe i'll get the whole body buff done (costs $900) and forget about the PPF for now. i've always been skeptical as to how the PPF would retain it's gloss over time. or maybe i'll just get the bumper PPF'd.

 

I enquired about putting PPF on mine to prevent any further chipping, mine is like yours, bunch of <1mm, maybe a few bigger, and they said that it would show the chipping even more, that they do it but don't recommend it. I hesitate to do any paint correction because the clear on these are so thin. A good coat of wax and I'm happy but I understand the protection a ceramic coat will give. They're been advertising some new spray on consumer grade that looks easy and tempting.

 

FWIW mine had PPF on it from new (2007) on the front end and it looked like **** after all these years. Had it taken off, front end resprayed and the entire car ceramic coated just a couple weeks ago. Cost $3300 just to remove PPF and ceramic coat the car.

 

okay, you've convinced me. i'm getting it buffed out and that's all. i'll brace myself for massive chipping and then just have it painted when i can't stand to look at it anymore.

 

And we complain about the cost of parts. Doesn't this sound just as extreme?
Did you have the clear bra type the dealers used to install? This has been on mine since new
https://lamin-x.com/aston-martin-van...clear-bra.html
I thought about installing it myself, it's not rocket science.

I don't think we were trying to talk you out of anything, just offer another perspective. As far as the numbers, they all use the same paint and the same codes. I got an estimate to remove and respray my rear bumper from a Mercedes / Porsche certified and it was $1500. No doubt Karosserie would be $3500 but they're the one that told me they all use the same PPG and the same code book.

There are the specialty touch up shops, I wonder if anybody has tried any of those to just hit the little chips?

 

that's a good idea Offender, to check the other quality car manufacturer's certified paint shops.

 

I don't even know but I would assume it was lamin-x since it was back in 2007 when my Dad bought the car new. I do know he had it on it for the longest time but it looked like absolute **** so he had it removed with some recent work and he paid the $3500 to remove and ceramic coat the entire car (among a bunch of other **** that cost a pretty penny).

Having said that you won't hear me complain about anything done prior, just anything moving forward as the car is now my responsibility.