Automotive Paint Inflation

[RansomEli]

Last year I got a quote for some yellow acrylic lacquer paint: $269.96 per gallon.

 

I emailed the same store today and the cost is now $535.99 / gallon.

 

Should have bought my 2-3 gallons back then.

 

At least I'm buying yellow paint. Can't imagine how much reds cost nowadays.

[Bhigdog]

About 1960 I painted my 54 Ford. I paid $20 for a gallon of Buick Titian red acrylic enamel. Of course I was only making $2.34 an hour. You do the math.........Bob

[John_S_in_Penna]

24 minutes ago, Bhigdog said:

About 1960 I painted my 54 Ford. I paid $20 for a gallon of Buick Titian red acrylic enamel....

 

Without checking actual inflation statistics,

I believe that prices have roughly octupled since then

(an 8-fold increase).  That means that the comparable

price today would be $160 per gallon.  Evidently,

paint prices have gone up faster than inflation.

 

Affordable prices, for any item, are always a benefit to the hobby.

Thank goodness that most cars depreciate before they appreciate!

[39BuickEight]

Paint prices have outpaced inflation due to evolving paint quality and variety R&D, along with the endless environmental regulations related to the production of paint.

[Bhigdog]

OK. I did the math.

That paint today, at the historical inflation rate would be $181. My salary, factory type work, would pay $21.24 per hr.

That gallon today, I'm guessing, will cost near $1000 and the average factory salary today is, I'm guessing, $30ish per hour.

So...............Since 1960 my salary has increased by a factor of 13 while the paint cost has increased by a factor of 50.

In 1960 I would have had to work 8.2 hours to buy that gallon. Today I would need to work 33 hours to buy that same gallon.

As my oriental friend, Sum Ting Wong, often says.......".WTF!."............Bob

PS... I suck at math and I'm getting ready to slip into a warm bath with a nice glass of red. Correct me if you must but please be gentle.

Edited November 13, 2021 by Bhigdog (see edit history)

[Bloo]

I'm surprised it's only a factor of 50. Did you include the required hardener and reducer? I have seen prices quoted for paint in the last few years that would have bought the car with money left over for gas and insurance when I was in high school.

[Bhigdog]

2 minutes ago, Bloo said:

I'm surprised it's only a factor of 50. Did you include the required hardener and reducer? I have seen prices quoted for paint in the last few years that would have bought the car with money left over for gas and insurance when I was in high school.

No i didn,t. Near ten years ago to thin/harden that gallon with dupont material would have added north of 100 to the price. Likely a lot more now.......bob

[ted sweet]

a shop cant legally spray lacquar in most states

[Bryan G]

It's hard to get a decent yellow these days. Before I left the business I remember some late model Ford where it took about a dozen coats of basecoat and it still didn't look great; it was just too see-through. We did a repair on a DHL van and just could not get a match no matter what. I happened to have a quart of old yellow tint left on the shelf, one that still contained nickel (and maybe cadmium?) I dug out my old microfiche for the obsolete formula and BAM, perfect! I also did that with a small repair on a school bus.

[plymouthcranbrook]

I am glad now that I quit painting cars back around 1990 or do. That said, what am I gonna do with these spray guns and various air body tools?  

[TAKerry]

I have a friend that was trying to colour match his ram pickup last year with a fancy red. It was something like $800 a quart. He got an off brand that matched perfect for much less. I have never bought red but have heard that it has always been expensive. Before I bought auto paint for the first time I had only experience with the building industry. $15 gal for house paint $20 for clear lacquer etc. I was talking to a guy about painting my car and he said that the paint was going to cost about $100 a gallon and I fell over.

[RansomEli]

Red is the most expensive color for automotive paint, unless you include some of the exotics, like color-changing types.

 

Oddly enough, I've found that black is the cheapest color. You can get all shades of black, but nothing seems to beat PPG DurAcryl DDL 9300 Black Acrylic Lacquer. It's got cult status.

 

[Walt G]

Red is also the most expensive color for oil paint that you use to paint pictures with, even water base paint that kids use in elementary school - ie opaque water color ( tempra paint) or acrylic paint in a tube. I saw this for decades when I had to order art supplies to last me a year when teaching 1,100 kids a week

I only paint in lacquer , don't know how to use the other stuff - enamel, base coat clear coat, hardeners etc. Most all of what I paint now is my collection of pre WWII pressed steel toys I restore ( which even now you can't afford one in poor shape to disassemble and restore) 

[Buick35]

I'm getting a couple of gravel deflectors for my 35 Buick that I'll have to paint once I get them. I was thinking of just having Lowe's match up a quart of oil based enamel and try brush painting them. Anybody had any luck with brushing parts?

[Walt G]

If you want to brush parts consider One Shot sign lettering enamel you can buy in an art supply store. NOT CHEAP ( they have color charts) but it is used by pin stripers for doing cars and sign painters. Use a camel hair brush - not some brush that looks like a whisk broom. You can prime the parts and sand smooth then brush paint them. You will get no brush marks. I did this with a rear fender for a motor cycle - it looks like it was porcelain coated.  Put the parts inside in a dust free area and let dry overnight - takes some time to sent up hard. If they say let it dry 8 hours double or triple that.

[Buick35]

Thanks,I might try that.

[Jubilee]

24 minutes ago, Buick35 said:

I'm getting a couple of gravel deflectors for my 35 Buick that I'll have to paint once I get them. I was thinking of just having Lowe's match up a quart of oil based enamel and try brush painting them. Anybody had any luck with brushing parts?

 

25 minutes ago, Buick35 said:

I'm getting a couple of gravel deflectors for my 35 Buick that I'll have to paint once I get them. I was thinking of just having Lowe's match up a quart of oil based enamel and try brush painting them. Anybody had any luck with brushing parts?

 

  You can buy two Preval paint spray kits from Home Depot delivered to your door for about $10. They will excellently spray a full quart of paint just as good as a good jam gun.

   Extra gas cylinders are about $5. They work great on small parts. No mess. Minimal cleaning. Great results.

  I’m just very satisfied customer for many years.

   

[The 55er]

Thumbs up to the Preval Sprayers. I've used a lot of them. You mix & reduce your own paint, pour it into the little glass jar and you're good to go. Great for small areas & touch-ups. 

[Buick35]

I've used them before too.I might go that route.

[Larry Schramm]

Last week I just bought a quart of brown/gray base coat, quart of reducer, pint of hardener, and a quart of clear and the total $261.00

[Digger914]

On 11/13/2021 at 9:56 AM, Buick35 said:

I'm getting a couple of gravel deflectors for my 35 Buick that I'll have to paint once I get them. I was thinking of just having Lowe's match up a quart of oil based enamel and try brush painting them. Anybody had any luck with brushing parts?

 

I get my use once and toss paint brushes from Harbor Freight and add the Flood paint solvent called Penetrol to hide brush and sponge roller marks. Mix a little of that in with a quart of Rustoleum and your brush painted old snow plow blade looks factory new. Give it a color sand and shoot it with Rustoleum 2X priming clear and you get a shinning plow blade that resists rust and rocks. 

[BucketofBolts]

This inflation scare is being used to needlessly increases prices. Example: Train transportation this last week from California to Illinois went from $2,500 for a one-way trip to $7,500 for a one-way trip and that is per container.  Many would define this as "price gouging". That 200% increase made in a day is just the cost to transport the crap that is in the container if use a train.  That does not cover the the cost to transport the goods to the train in California or the cost to unload and take the goods from the train station in Illinois to their final destination. Why not just ignore the train and use trucks? There are not sufficient trucks to go around. Hence, transport entities are placed in a bind. 

 

Some entities are using this "inflation news" as an excuse to engage in as previously never seen before price hikes so as to stick it to the ultimate consumer.   What follows inflation? Interest rates will jump.   Get that low interest rate loan while you can. 

[yachtflame]

I’ve used the Preval units for years and love them.  Ive done a lot of Awl Grip paint on yachts over the past 30 years using them. As always, it’s all about the prep!

  I just had my 1949 Jag MK V painted Base coat/ Clear coat in black. The paint alone was a bit over $1500 not including any primer. A bit stiff in my opinion but really didn’t want to drive it around in grey primer!

[Buffalowed Bill]

The US made the ultimate mistake after WWll by not maintaining the railroad capacity as a needed mover of freight. Focusing on the highway system at the expense of the RR's seemed like an economical solution at that time. Road bed redundancy seemed like an extravagance seventy years ago, but it was a short term solution for which we are paying today.

On 11/14/2021 at 3:26 PM, BucketofBolts said:

This inflation scare is being used to needlessly increases prices. Example: Train transportation this last week from California to Illinois went from $2,500 for a one-way trip to $7,500 for a one-way trip and that is per container.  Many would define this as "price gouging". That 200% increase made in a day is just the cost to transport the crap that is in the container if use a train.  That does not cover the the cost to transport the goods to the train in California or the cost to unload and take the goods from the train station in Illinois to their final destination. Why not just ignore the train and use trucks? There are not sufficient trucks to go around. Hence, transport entities are placed in a bind. 

 

Some entities are using this "inflation news" as an excuse to engage in as previously never seen before price hikes so as to stick it to the ultimate consumer.   What follows inflation? Interest rates will jump.   Get that low interest rate loan while you can. 

 

Edited November 21, 2021 by Buffalowed Bill (see edit history)

[Frank DuVal]

On 11/13/2021 at 9:37 AM, RansomEli said:

You can get all shades of black, but nothing seems to beat PPG DurAcryl DDL 9300 Black Acrylic Lacquer. It's got cult status.

FYI, back in the 80s the PPG rep said DDL9300 was the match for GM cars. All other cars used DDL9000. I agree, DDL9300 looks great! Of course, it is NLA! PPG has exited the acrylic lacquer market several years ago:

 

https://us.ppgrefinish.com/PPG-Refinish/Notifications-Result/2018/Obsolescence-Notice-Deltron-DDL-Duracryl-Acrylic

 

[Bryan G]

When we were spraying DuPont (now Cromax/Axalta) they had a black like that but I've forgotten the number. It didn't really match anything from the OEM's but was great for an all-over. It was "blacker." At one time the standard DuPont 99K would cover most any factory black but then we started running into stuff like Nissans that were bluish or some Fords that were very brown. You'd never pick up on it just looking at the car but butt-match the adjacent panel and they were night and day. Of course, today a significant percentage of blacks are pearls.

[TAKerry]

I just bought some house paint and my sherwin williams store has added a "supply chain charge 4%" on every item. Im not quite sure it is a shortage if its on their shelf! They did have a problem a few weeks ago with lack of supply but I'm not quite sure I understand this. Just add 4% to their prices and dont call it something silly. I will be curious to see IF and when this comes off and what the effect on the actual price will be.

[Bryan G]

I just had a talk a few days ago with a body shop regarding a repair that was held up because one of the required tints (for a common color) is now on backorder. Not good.

[89tc]

I'm not a painter, so can anyone explain why paint is so ridiculously priced, and why red is the most expensive color? It sounds like b.s. to me.

Paint on hundred year old cars holds up better than the paint on my five year old car that is already deteriorated. Something doesn't add up here...

[The 55er]

I've bought quite a bit of automotive paint in my lifetime and anything with red in it was always more expensive. Sometimes it cost a little more, other times it was a lot more. A bright red-orange color seemed to be the most expensive. The story I got was all colors except red used synthetic pigments in their production. No synthetic pigment was ever developed for red which used more costly natural pigments, hence the difference in price. I don't know how true all of this is but that's the story I got years ago.