I am tired of looking at the swirls on my BB R3. I was thinking of changing the paint to White Pearl, and was wondering if it would be a huge deal to get this done?

Anyone ever change the entire color of their car? What kind of issues will arrive, should I worry about registration issues?

I was thinking about painting it matte black, or White pearl.

 

A few here have changed their color. It is expensive and could hurt resale. You would not have any legal issues.

 

I don't really care too much about resale. I just love the White Pearl look...lol I am guessing it will be too expensive though. I only want to spend around $4k max. I don't think that will do it.

 

You could do it for 4k and have a decent shop do it too

 

to do it right, you should expect the car to be down for a bit. I changed my old rx8 color from a dark blue to black...hated it b/c I couldn't afford to get it done right (was very young). Only way I'd consider it is if I had to pull the engine and could do the engine bay right too (and interior areas.

If the resale on your car is good now, just sell it and buy a WW one.

 

Not really an option as the R3 isn't available in white (at least not in the USA).

 

oh geez...

so wait, you're r3, that has only been on the market for a very short time, already has so many swirl marks that you can't stand to look at it?? do you drive in sand storms all day and get out and rub the sand all over the paint or something?!

but yeah, expect to pay man thousands of dollars for a full paint job, especially going from a dark to a light. to do it right, every panel must be removed and painted individually...unless you want one of those beat up cars from the 80's where it looks all one color until the person opens the door and gets out and you can see the original color in the door frame...

 

If you have full coverage, key half your car and take a hammer to the other half lightly making it look like vandalism and a hit and run while it was parked.

Pay your $500 co-pay and ask them to change the color to another one of the factory Mazda colors.

Pay the body shop secretly if there is a difference.



Dont mention me if they ask any questions...lol

 

^^^

1) thats serious insurance fraud.
2) they wont properly paint the car a new color just cause you ask and apparently had some bad luck. doing it properly means pulling the engine, doors, body panels, etc

 

ya if you want a color change for 4k you better talk to a shop about what you can do for prep before you hand it over. When I had my RX-7 painted, I pulled the lights, the mirrors, bumpers and everything I could and even did what prep work with sanding they said would help cut time off and then loaded it up and dropped it off and it was still close to 2k and that wasn't a color change so they didn't have to pull the doors off to do jams or anything. All-in-all I prob spent a week doing my prep before I dropped it off.

A color change would require the additional pulling of the doors, trunk, hood, fenders, interior, sunroof if you have it, and everything under the hood for a proper job. On top of that if you have the appearance package or any other body kit parts on they will also have to be removed. Color changes are very involved. Now if you have the time to do, you should also consider if you want to Dynamat the car or anything else while you have it apart, it's a great chance to make a slick custom car.

 

just fork over $400 and get a very good detail.

 

^+1

In addition do some reading on how to maintain a black car. Lots of good tips here and on the net. Black looks the best but it comes at a price

 

A good cut polish will get the swirlies out.

 

if you're not too afraid of messing up your paint
invest in these:
clay, rotary buffer, good pads and polishes, a quality sealant, two wash buckets, grit sponge, and quality microfiber towels.

I personally use:
Clay... many options.. somewhat agressive is good if you're planning to polish afterwards anyways.
Buffer.. Makita 9227c
Various pads.. some Meguiars, some Lake Country
Polishes.. I like the Menzerna line (Intensive polish/Final finish will be enough for 99% of swirls)
Sealant.. I change around, but currently using blackfire wet diamond

Good pearl paint jobs will be expensive...
If you're serious on changing colors, I'd look into vinyl.

 

ive done a complete color change on a 99 camaro and it costed me around 3k but they did it right and it was a high end shop

 

lol, I bought the car with the marks on it. I wanted to actually paint the car to match the R3 rim color...or Wicked White.

 

Where the significant cost comes into play is painting the engine bay. To do it properly you have to pretty much clear out the bay.

Done improperly will limit your resale options.

 

One of the guys here in So.Fla changed his from blue to yellow

 

I did it on a another car. I'd never do it again. Sell what you have, buy what you want.

 

Make sure to get the door jams and engine bay painted!

 

Many people are against this because so many people don't do it right, and I agree, but...you could look into DipYourCar. Instead of repainting the car, it's much cheaper to just use plastidip (have it prfoessionally done) if done right, it can come out looking good and would cost less.

I'm not a fan of it, although I have considered it, but to do it, make sure it's done properly.

 

Holy newbbump, Batman!

 

Plastidip is a disease. If you are getting a paint job save and get it done right.

 

5 year bump! Bet he never did anything.

 

I'm sure he'll get right on that