Spruced Up and Painted 2 Cars in the Family Fleet

[goodfellow]

Given the state of new vehicle costs and the low quality these days, I decided to get serious and update my wife's 2012 AWD Traverse LT and my daughter's 2005 AWD Highlander.

It took a over a month to install some new front bumper covers and do all the bodywork on these two cars, but when they were ready for paint they were straight and tight. I did all the paint prep and just dropped the cars off at MAACO to have the cars sprayed in a polyurethane top coat/clear coat finish.

The cost was less than $800 per car and I'm thrilled to see the results. I'm too old to setup and mess with a temporary home spray booth, and even if I were to attempt the job, my cost for paint and materials would be close to the MAACO price anyway.

Here's the Highlander --







...and the Traverse







As in most things, the prep work is the hardest. The paint reflects the effort in the prep. That's why it took me almost six weeks to get these cars ready for paint.

I'm pretty impressed with MAACO and can definitely recommend their service for these types of jobs.

[Uncle Buck]

In 1980 in KCMO a buddy of mine that had never painted a car did an admirable job of prepping a straight rust free 1969 RS Camaro for paint and did everything including taping everything leaving just enough to allow him to drive and drop off at the local Maico. Once he got there he taped and covered what remained right in their lot. All he left them to do was mine down with pre cleaner and lay down color.

I think it only cost a few hundred $ in 1980 dollars and the results were stunning. Ya, I get ya Ray! 👍

[goodfellow]

Thanks Herb! Yes, it makes sense these days to do this kind of work. My wife and I went car shopping a few months ago and she didn't like all the screens, warning lights, nanny style lane change buzzers and the lot. She mentioned that the cars now look and sound more like pin-ball machines. I can't disagree with her. Given that a replacement Traverse LT with the turbo 2.5 four banger is about $46K, she wasn't impressed with the choices and the price.

She likes her smooth 3.6 NA V6, and the fact that the 2012 has an ignition key, no stop/start crap, and rides quite nice, we decided just to refurbish it. Daughter wasn't too thrilled about spending money on cheaply made modern cars and asked that I get her old Highlander done as well. She's saving up to buy a townhouse, so a new car payment was just a huge drain on her financial goals. I'm "kinda" proud that she's actually thinking these things through and valuing the fact that the older Toyota's are probably some of the best cars ever to hit American roads.