How Long Does It Take to Paint A Car

If you ask, “how long does car paint take to dry?” we can answer it. But “how long does it take to paint a car?” is a critical question to answer. If your preparation is inaccurate, it will take a long time to finish the painting project. When you prepare well, we have a prominent answer for you. 

Being a painting team, we always face such questions from clients. Painting time depends on car size, paint type, reparation, expertise, and tools. If you need to repair the collision through paint, it may take one more week. A rusted job may take one-month minimum. However, this article will cover every information about car panting. Hopefully, you will stay with us.

What Includes A Car Painting Job?

A complete car painting job includes different portions of your vehicle. There are many car paint shops or car body shops where you can give your car for painting. Many say it takes almost 40 to 80 hours to paint the entire vehicle. The time will vary depending on the car model, shape, etc. 

A full-body car paint job requires a lot of tools to complete the project in a limited amount of time. When you want to do it at home, we cannot tell you how long it will take. In a car paint shop, many expert technicians work.

They can easily manage the entire project in the right environment. You are good to go if you can create this kind of project environment in your home garage.

We never saw anyone who wanted to paint himself. Everyone loves an auto-body repair shop. We also recommend this. However, if you have enough tools, you can paint your car. We will show the results next. Before that, look at the factors affecting painting time.

Vehicle Model

There is a specific size and style for every car model. It is a very important factor that will decide how long it takes to paint a car. There are large, mid, and small cars. Big vehicles indeed require more time to paint.

Comparing sedan and SUV, the SUV will take more time to paint than a sedan. When you paint a small portion of a car, the car size won’t matter. But it matters in full vehicle paint. 

Body Work

Now, the painting includes making the vehicle perfect in looking. There can be some dents and damage in the car’s body. In that case, you need to repair the body first, then paint it.

Nobody will paint on a damaged car body, right? This factor can affect your work. A broken panel requires extra time to paint because it needs fixing, and then you can paint on it. An extensively damaged body lengthens the complete painting process.

You may try to cover the damaged area with paint. Believe us; it won’t be a fruitful decision. Avoiding dents and scratches during paint can lead to oxidation. It can cause rust under the paint. Then the whole rust will spread to the entire car body. That’s why we recommend visiting a car repair center. That can solve your every problem.

Process of Paint Application

Your painting process can determine how long it takes to paint a car. After that, you have to leave the paint to dry. Based on the paint, it requires a specific drying time. Once the paint has been acquired and the vehicle is ready for painting, you can start the painting process.

At first, you will apply a primer coat on the car. It will take some time to dry. Then you will apply a few coats of paint to the body. Most workshops use single-stage paint to save extra money and time. We also prefer single-stage paint rather than two-stage paint.

You must check every single quote in the application. This means you apply a coating, then wait and leave it to dry. You must repeat the same thing multiple times until you finish correctly. You can apply a clear coat if you use two-stage paint. This will make the color polished and smooth.

So, these three factors play a very important role in painting if you prepare enough. If there is any deficiency in your preparation, the entire working time gets sick, and we don’t know how long it will last.

So, preparation is vital if you’re doing this in your garage. Alternatively, auto body repair shop mechanics specialize. They will handle everything.

What Is The Importance of Preparation in Car Painting?

Preparation can lengthen the painting time. At this point, you make your car ready for painting. You must select proper paint for the vehicle, which can be challenging if you have a luxury car. Sometimes luxury car paint takes a long time to find. 

After that, you must prepare the car body through sanding and priming. Before that, you have to cover the working area. There is no exact time to complete sanding and priming the entire body. Based on the user deadline, it can take one day to one week. 

Is Car Painting a Tough Job in My Garage?

Car painting is a fun job if you can do it yourself. It may also save you money, but we cannot guarantee the time. A few years ago, we painted our cars. It was a great experience but difficult. The painting was not complicated because we used spray paint. Our preparation was also good. But believe it or not, sanding sucks.

Sanding a large SUV is a big job. It takes a considerable time to do it. Each time, we checked the smoothness of the surface. It takes a lot of time.

Thankfully, we could manage perfect paint for our car. But everyone cannot. So, the straightforward answer is yes. It is tough to paint a car in my garage, and sanding sucks.

FAQs

Final Verdict

The answer to your question, “How long does it take to paint a car?” is variable. Our estimate is around 40 to 80 hours. Ask the repair shop manager about the project completion time.

We think the time may vary depending on the skill of the repair shop members and advanced equipment. If you collect everything you need to start the project, it won’t take more than a week to complete.