Anyone have a rough idea how much to get an STI wing painted and possibly installed around here? I have one sitting in my garage waiting to go on but I'm not sure if I want a shop to do it here or have a buddy do it.

 

Are you gonna drill holes in your stock TR trunk? If you want I would swap my STI trunk with your TR trunk but you would have to get it painted to match your car.

As far as paint and install of the STI wing I would hit up Brandon at Okas Auto Body, he works there as an estimator and and Iclub member.

 

Thanks for the offer but either way I'd be stuck with something to paint and a wing is less to paint then a wing and a trunk plus I'd be stuck with an extra wing.

 

$300.00 + for paint, $150.00 + for installation.. DIY=FREE 99

 

Are those numbers from experience or you just throwing them out there.

 

experience

 

Ive been getting some estimates around town to get a little ding fixed on a trunk and get it painted. So far the lowest Ive been quoted was about $480. The highest was $1100! Yeah you read it right, $1100 to fix a small ding the size of a dime and repaint a trunk. From my experience the larger body shops dont really do small jobs like wings. Most of their money is made from insurance claims. Im down to choosing between three different shop to do my trunk lid. Ill let you know how it comes out.

 

It's not so much that shops make most of their $$$ from insurance, in fact it's quite the opposite. If a body shop has a direct repair agreement with a certain insurance company, the insurance "negotiates" (haha, if you want to call it that. You basically do the work for the hourly rate THEY decide is fair, or your not on the program) a set hourly rate. Then if you agree and they want you to be a repairer for them, they send you work. Our hourly RETAIL rate is $55/hr.......which is really low when you compare other Technical Industries. When was the last time you had a Dealer, Electrician, or Mechanic work for $55/ hour? Haha,probably not for like 25 years or so. Then, the insurance company gladly takes their volume discount. We do work for "XYZ" Insurance for $44/Hour. So right off the bat, they get a 20% discount. You can see where that goes.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not bashing or ranting, just putting some info out there for some of you guys. As most of you guys know, those who've done work with our company in the past and those who I've gotten price quotes for, we're NOT the cheapest shop around, nor do we want to be. In fact, we're probably more on the expensive side. My dad made choices in the past that has lead us to where we are today. But, I'd like to think that we offer a lot more than just a price point. We pride ourselves in trying to take care of our customers and assisting them with their claims, providing a clean and professional environment, as well as a quality repair. I-club or not, friend or not, I treat all of our customers with respect and do not expect any special treatment either. It's a business and we treat it as such. If your happy with the repairs.....great! Tell all your friends and family about us. If your not, call me so we can make it right. Nobody is perfect, but we do try our best to take care of any issues that come up. That being said.....back on topic.

 

if its already painted, i suggest doing all the prep work yourself (or have someone who knows how, for cheap or free)
thats the only reason why such services are expensive...

i know a guy who quoted me $100+ for a prepped front bumper..that being said, you should be looking at no more than $200 for the wing.

 

Good info to know Bran, Thanks. I guess the reason I said what I said is when I went to a few of the bigger shops the estimator came out and spent about 2 minutes talking to me. I felt as if my business was a waste of time for them.

 

I have a guy that can do good work...PM me if you like.

 

I hear you. The thing that I (personally) need to overcome is being hand fed jobs. At our shop, we probably do about 95% insurance jobs. The other customer pay work that is in the shop, probably started off as an insurance job and they came back to us for other stuff. Being that so much of our jobs are "given" to us from the insurance, it's very easy for an estimator to take it for granted and not treat every customer with the attention they deserve. I've personally made an effort by constantly taking classes and attending seminars to better myself in the interest of better serving my customers. That's also why I tried to take a little extra time to explain the difference between painting the trunk only vs. blending the quarters in.

Sorry to the OP, didn't mean to clutter your thread.