Cost estimates, repaint/clear roof radius

[smlranger]

Originally Posted by Smitty77

The nature of the kind of work you're asking to be done, means at least a few days without it!

I'd plan on it being inside the shop of the bulk of the pre work, and then cleaning, masking, and multiple paintings applications.

Good time to take a few days to live it up in a nice hotel, or cabin, or Oregon beach cottage...

Nature of the kind of work involved...

$.02...

And of course best,
Smitty

I would agree with your assessment and that is why I have been trying to find a shop in my home locations/s to do the work so leaving the coach for a few days or a week is not an issue.

Interesting that when I spoke to Dave Nagle at CDI in Forest City, IA, he said he would take the coach in at 07:00 and be done by end of day. While I find that hard to imagine (and get a quality job) I have been told that since painting is all they do, they have a super efficient operation.

We spent 3 nights in a La Quinta with the dogs on our recent winter trip while the coach was in the shop. It was not great fun for sure. There are some pet friendly hotels in Eugene and one in JC (the one in JC looked pretty much rode hard and put up wet when we checked it in 2014).

[dons2346]

I had the roof radius sanded down to gel coat and then painted with a clear coat over. The front cap was done the same way. I also had some hail dents taken out of the Jeep hood and that painted. This was done a couple of years ago in Mexico for a cost of $800.

The Jeep has since gone to the happy hunting ground after the wife backed into a van full of homeless people but that is another story.

The coach paint job still looks like factory

[smlranger]

I spoke to the service folks at CC yesterday. They now answer the phone 'Winnebago/Country Coach'. Gave Arlene my list of what I needed done and she spoke to her paint folks. They advised worse case we would need to be out of the coach one night for the paint work. The techs that I really liked on our previous visit are still there. She said two weeks notice for appointment should be OK. So, we will use Winne/CC this time.

As always, thanks for all the suggestions and helpful info.

[becks]

Glad to hear Winny is keeping things moving forward at CC.

[smlranger]

I've talked to folks at both Country Coach and Oregon Motor Coach. Obviously, while they both say final cost will depend on what really needs to be done, they did give me an estimate to sand, repaint (base coat) and clear coat for the roof radius and the front cap down to the top of the windshield. CC says $4,500 and OMC says $3,500. I am sure either would do a great job but both of those estimates are higher than others I have gotten. The lowest at this point was from CDI in Forest City, IA. The feedback I have gotten on them is that since all they do is paint coaches (at least at the FC facility), they are super efficient. He gave me a high level estimate of $1,100 - $1,200. My best judgement tells me that is too low and I would be wondering what they did not do that should be done.

At this point I am inclined to delay this work for now and continue to explore more options close to home so we could have this done during a period when we are not traveling.

[CountryFit]

Originally Posted by smlranger

CC says $4,500 and OMC says $3,500. CDI...gave me a high level estimate of $1,100 - $1,200...

big difference! could you ask cdi for a reference that you could take a look at least one of their jobs being delivered?

[smlranger]

Originally Posted by CountryFit

big difference! could you ask cdi for a reference that you could take a look at least one of their jobs being delivered?

Basically, any/every Winnebago coach that is made in Forest City, IA was painted by CDI. Most I have seen look fine but, frankly, they don't have the paint job that we have on our CC's. I suspect Winnebago only specs one, maybe two coats of clear. Over the years there have been many posts about peeling clear coat on the roof radius of Winnebago coaches. A number of folks do go back to CDI to have them re-done. Most say they were satisfied but I have read a few posts where the redo did not last that long.

There are three places not far from me in the Fredericksburg/Manassas, VA area that specialize in heavy truck, bus and RV collision repair and painting. I plan to check them out. I'd really prefer to have it done when we are not using the coach.

[Smitty77]

Sure is a big price difference. And yeah, a double check with CDI on specifics how many coats are involved, and confirmation of the materials used being OEM matching pair/clear coat, would give you a better feeling. That being said, I could see how a shop that set p for pure paint only, could come out lower then CC and OMC (Not a ding to them, but it's not their only business.) And, good chance they have lower cost actual shop rates on the prep work staff, and probably comparable cost actual shop rates on the finish painter...

And I understand wanting to work with techs at CC that you had a comfortable relationship with before. That is the primary reason I keep stopping in yearly at OMC, as I trust the techs that I've worked with, and Jim Cooley. We also had a very positive interaction with Matt Carr on our last visit just prior to the formal announcement that he and Elaine were going to be the new 'hand's on' owners. (Elaine had worked with the OMC gang for quite sometime prior to this...).

Anyways, best of luck to you on your visit, and if the CDI paint job is 'apples to apples' in materials, I for one would rather have that money in my pocket!

Suggest while in the area, drive by and stop in for a visit to OMC. Jim gets very busy, but between him, or Matt or Elaine - you should be able to get sometime to meet and greet and check things out in person.

Travel safe,
Smitty

[smlranger]

Well, a little gum shoeing and research pays off. I spend the better part of today visiting two OTR truck dealerships and the largest independent RV repair shop in the area. The Volvo truck guys sent me to an independent shop nearby. It was a slapped together body shop in the end of a large warehouse building. The guy was just finishing up a Blue Bird school bus that he was painting for a local private school. He looked at a pic of my coach and said, yeah, I can do that for maybe $600-$800 . He then took me into his paint bay to look at the bus. Let's just say I would not let him paint my lawn mower .

Next stop was a large Navistar dealer/shop. They directed me to their own onsite collision repair shop. They had a nice cross draft paint bay and said they do motorhomes on a regular basis. The shop looked very well equipped. They looked at my pics and quoted $3,500 with the qualifier that it could be more when they actually see the coach.

My next stop was the large independent RV shop (RV Service of VA) where I had planned to get this done last year but they ran out of time. The shop manager said he no longer has a guy come to his shop to do paint work since there was a new game just down the road that did outstanding work. He was now referring everyone to them.

So I drove 1/2 mile to Truck Resource in Ashland, VA. I met them, showed them my pics and talked about what I needed done. Their paint guy then took me into his nice cross draft bay and there sat a 40' Winnebago Tour that he was just finishing up. He had painted and cleared both the front and rear caps. He said the coach was only about 6 years old but the clear coat had failed on the front and rear of the coach. His work looked very nice. These folks quoted $2,650 for my job. They use Dupont chroma premier paint.

At this point, my plan is to use the folks at Truck Resource. I am to call them in late November and set it up for early to mid December.

All of these places are within a 15 mile drive from my current home.

[bokobird]

Well, I guess I really need to shop around. Looking to have similar work done and the local guy wants $7k. His estimate included taking all the existing clear/paint off around the radius and completely redo the paint and clear coat. I'm sure this included the cap above the driver section (horns, satellite, etc. are up there). Told him "not today"

[smlranger]

Originally Posted by bokobird

Well, I guess I really need to shop around. Looking to have similar work done and the local guy wants $7k. His estimate included taking all the existing clear/paint off around the radius and completely redo the paint and clear coat. I'm sure this included the cap above the driver section (horns, satellite, etc. are up there). Told him "not today"

Both shops today asked me if my clear coat was peeling. I said no, just fading at this point. They both said in that case, all that was needed was to sand the surface well, put a new base coat on, followed by at least 2 coats of clear.

So, actually they are 're-doing' the base coat and clear coat.

[bokobird]

Originally Posted by smlranger

Both shops today asked me if my clear coat was peeling. I said no, just fading at this point. They both said in that case, all that was needed was to sand the surface well, put a new base coat on, followed by at least 2 coats of clear.

So, actually they are 're-doing' the base coat and clear coat.

Unfortunately, I have a lot of peeling with the clear coat. If I don't find a good price I'll wait it out till the whole RV gets redone - which doesn't need it at this point. The rest of the RV looks great. Figured at $7k just for the radius, that's around 1/3 the cost of a total redo so I'd rather wait it out and do it all if no one can provide a more reasonable price.

[TomandGloria]

Gary, thanks for the info. I've got clear coat peeling on top of my front cap. I'm going to take a picture and ride up to Ashland.
Tom

[smlranger]

Originally Posted by TomandGloria

Gary, thanks for the info. I've got clear coat peeling on top of my front cap. I'm going to take a picture and ride up to Ashland.
Tom

Tom, Truck Source is on US 1 right next to the Ditch Witch place. See Robbie Batte, the manager.