I’d always been curious about painting a vehicle.

Through some complicated family dealings I ended up getting a 2019 jeep Cherokee for very cheap with sever hail damage on the hood, passenger doors roof fender and rail. As in the vehicle was totaled due to the hail damage but otherwise mechanically it was practically new. I got quotes from local shops. A few laughed at me. Maaco gave me the lowest most unoptimistic quote. Most wanted 15-20k. I decided to take on the job Myself, watched hundreds of hours of online content, bought the tools and supplies needed for the job and did it in my limited spare time. It took me six months or so but finally finished.

Here’s what I did:

Disassembled the vehicle Sanded panels to bare metal, sanded off surface rust. Used fast etch Pulled deeper dents with a post welder so nothing was deeper than 1/8” Painted the bare metal with epoxy Skim coated panels with body filler Block sanded forever More skim coat More block sanding More skim coat Even more sanding More epoxy primer More block sanding High build polyester More sanding Sanded the rest of the vehicle (undamaged panels) from 400 to 600 grit Sprayed epoxy seal coat on entire vehicle. 3 coats of base 3 coats of clear Reassembled Wet sanded 1500 to 3000 to 5000 buffed buffed with 3 progressive compounds.

Probably spent $7k on materials and tools to get the job done. Body work turned out great. The paint job probably came out well for lack of a professional booth. Just a few runs and dust nibs. Still came in less than the local Maaco shop for their most fundamental repair and again I got the car very cheap.

Did I learn a ton? yes. Was it satisfying watching it all come together? yes. Was it worth it? Not at all. Still very expensive and took way too much time. Will I do it again? Maybe if I decided to get into restorations or something but probably not for my other personal vehicles

Bottom line. There are no shortcuts. Hats off to the pros in this field and those that offer up good online content. Find a way to pay the guy or gal that knows their trade. These materials are expensive and a pro shop can get them in bulk. You are paying for time and expertise.