Automotive

How Long Does It Take to Paint a Car? Detailed Answer

First of all, we need to state that painting a car is not an easy process. You do not just apply the paint on the car’s surface to paint it. If you want t professional painting, you need to have very professional applications and steps to obtain very high-quality work. Here we explain the answer to the question “How Long Does It Take to Paint a Car?”. 

The Short Answer: 45-100 Hours Depending on the Vehicle 

How Long Does It Take to Paint a Car?

So, this means, if you want to get your car painted, you need to spend around a minimum of 15 working days. And you will get a high-quality painting on your car. 

What are the Stages of Painting a Car? 

There are different stages to painting a car. So, you need to know that these stages are very complex, and application of them is not an easy thing. And you need to be sure that you are taking professional support. 

The First Stage 

It is a very important stage for you. You need to define the proper color to apply to your car. The important parameters for this case are the previous color of your car and the colors of the interior equipment. This stage is about the design stage and we will not elaborate on this topic here. 

Dissamembly of Compıonents 

You can make direct paintings of the car’s body. Because there are inner sides that you need to apply the paint on the car. And to apply paint to the assembly points thoroughly you need to disassemble all the exterior parts from the chassis. So disassembly takes lots of time in the painting. 

It requires lots of time and labor. This means you need to be patient if you want to paint your car exactly. And you will be able to make what you want to obtain from your car. 

Also, there are such important sections and trims of the car exterior that we can not disassemble. And we need to apply a specific amount of masking on these trims to prevent the coming of the paint on these trims. 

Body Work

If there are damages and stints on the surface of the car, you need to apply some serious and important processes to remove them. We generally use peeling. And there are special tools to remove dirt and grime to obtain mouıch better surface. 

Sanding

It is very important to paint must grip to the surface of the car. It is very important to obtain high-quality paintings on cars. And you will be able to have a very good painting of the cars. This means you can have a very good application. 

Also grinding and sanding take a specific amount of time like painting. With a sanding gun, we create the protrusioıns and rough surface to provide a linking surface f the paint. And the painting will be higher in quality than we expected. 

Preparing 

Bad painting application.

Actually, after the sanding application, the surfaces are ready for painting operations. But for higher quality painting, the application of primers is very common. The primers provide the application of paint of much higher quality. And the paint will cling to the surface much more easily. 

After the application of the primer and drying the primer out, the parts of the car are hung on the hooks to better paint application. You can reach all the surfaces if you hang the parts on the hook. 

Application of Paint 

Once the primer dried out, the application of the paint starts. In general, it will take the application of painting around 3 hours of work. Because the application of paint must be very sensitive. And the operator should be sure that the painting on all the surfaces must be uniform. 

The drying of the car paint takes around 30-90 minutes according to the environment that it is painted. This means you can have a very good painting for your car. 

Polishing

When the application of paint finishes, the polish application starts. In the polishing, a very fine and smooth polishing head is used. The operator removes all the rough surfaces that can come from the painting operation. And we obtain a very smooth and very shiny surface for our car. 

Assembling the Car 

After that, removing the maskings and assembling the parts take a very important amount of time. The same time will be spent on assembling the disassembled parts after the painting. This will take around 3-4 hours for one operator. 

As you understand that it will take around 24-48 hours minimum to paint completely a car. And if we think about the working hours mentality, the total hours that you need to wait will be 45-100 hours. 

How Must be a Good Auto Painting Job? 

There are different qualifications that you need to look for a good auto painting job. And the painting job must be worth waiting for long hours for your car. And if you get a great job, the answer to the “How long does it take to paint a car?” question will be very long. But the long hours do not mean every time high-quality painting jobs. 

  • First of all, the color must be even for all the sections of your car. You need to take the new glossy finish from the car paint that you applied. 
  • The thickness of the body paint must be consistent. If the thickness of the body paints changes over the surface and at the different parts of your car, we can not say that you had a good body paint job. 
  • The lines also must be straight. If you have different lines and colors on the body of your car, you can easily spot that the painting of the color is high in quality. 
  • Also, it will be much better if the color of the paint matches the original color of your car. Because the design of the trims and the other components are made according to the color of your car. 
  • At the visible sections of your car body, you can not see any flaw even from a close look. This requires a very high-quality application. 
  • Because there will be disassembly of the car body parts, operators must fit the body parts into their places in a good condition. You should not have any problems with the labor of the assembly. 
  • The gloss should not fade easily. This is one of the most important indicators of a high-quality car paint job. 
  • Sanding will create marks on the surface. Because it is a roughening process of the surface to create a much better place to stick to the surface. But if the craftmanship of the body paint application is not good enough, you can notice some sanding marks even from the painted body. A good application of body paint should not have body marks on the surface. 

So you will easily spot a high-quality body paint application with these important points. 

Can You Paint Your Car? 

We need to state that painting a car is a very time-consuming process. And you need special knowledge and special equipment to obtain a high-quality application. 

Also, you need to be aware that the paint of the car is a very important thing that people are considering while they are looking for cars. If you are looking at your car as an asset, we do not recommend you paintwork the car on your own. It will be a much more great idea to take help from professionals. 

  • First of all the surface preparation must be very professional. You need to use special surface sanders or sanding guns. Also, you need to remove all the dust that can be probşlematic on the surface of your car. 
  • The application of the primer thoroughly is a very important thing you need to. Primer is a very important application that makes the paint adhere to the surface. The application of the primer must be uniform and create a very good surface to adhere to the paint. 
  • Painting: Also the painting must be very delicate. It will be much better if you use professional painting guns for this job. And one coat will not be sufficient. After the curing and drying of the paint, you need to apply the second coat of paint. 
  • Also, it is very important to understand the assembly of the body parts of the car. You need to be able to reassemble the car doors, the bonnet of the car, and the luggage door of your car. You need to apply professional masking to prevent sanding and painting comes to glass and trims. 

Also taking safety precautions is very important. You need to use special gloves that protect your hands from paint. And also you need to wear painting masks that will prevent you from inhaling carcinogen gas of t eh painting. 

Also wearing protective glasses to any accident can occur and infect your eyes to paint. 

Last Words on How Long Does It Take to Paint a Car? 

As you see above, painting a car is not an easy thing. You should not expect your car to be painted in several hoursç Also if someone says that they can paint your car in several hours, you need to refrain from them. 

If you have additional comments and questions about this topic, please leave them below. 

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FAQ

How long does a car take to paint and dry? 

If you disassembled all the parts, hang them, sanded, and masked, the total painting of one coat will take 1.5-2 hours. And drying one coat will only take 30-90 minutes according to the environment and the type of paint. 

How much does it cost to fully paint a car? 

It depends on the quality of the painting. In general, the costs can change between $1000-$5000 according to the model of your car and the level of craftsmanship. 

How long does a paint job on a car last? 

There are multiple stages of the paint job on the car. So, you need to expect that the paint job can take 48 to 72 hours by considering all the strategies. 

Can paint dry in 3 hours? 

In most cases, it can dry in 3 hours without any problem. 

Uğur Uygun

Hello everyone, I am Uğur. I am a mechanical engineer who has experience in different R&D departments of HVAC companies. With my best friend, I decided to build this website to share out knowledge and experience. And also, I am interested in automotive. So, I am writing about automotive and automotive-related articles here. Sharing my knowledge and experiences on these topics is a very big pleasure for me. I am willing to answer all of the questions people have about these topics.

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