I tried looking for this using the search option. Unfortunately, all i'm finding are DIYs, none of which are for the B6 model. My question is, how much can i expect to pay for painting my lowers by a body shop. Im in the Central Jersey area if that helps. I'm hoping its not more than $200. Also, ifanyone isfamiliar with the area, are there any respectable body shops and how could I find one that's reliable. Thanks guys

 

If you want to get good coverage the front bumper needs to be taken off so you can seperate the lower from the upper bumper, which is around 1 hour of labor by itself ($100).
A body shop would most likely quote you around $800 depending on how much paint you want laid down.

 

just do it yourself man. the sides are the same no matter what model you have, and the rear and front are easy to remove

 

i live in upstate NY and i was quoted for $300 at one time. But then i said f' it and just got new bumpers lol

 

Yeah, you should probably save some money on the labor and do it your self.

I believe it's just some sanding and painting as those black pieces come off from your bumpers.

I heard many shops in California charge about $200-300.

 

Shop around you can get it for under 200, I've gotten a smashed in door fixed for 500$. You just have to get quotes. I am also planning on having my 2004 lowers painted, we'l see.

 

Check out Sineo's thread from last week where she painted her lowers - she put up information about where to order perfectly-matching paint online. You can get it in spray cans and do it yourself. Not a difficult DIY at all, and totally worth doing yourself.

 

I like the idea, but there's no way I'm going to do it myself with spray cans... My body and paint are 4 years old now and absolutely spotless. I have 3 small knicks on my entire body, and take great pride in handwashing and waxing it myself. I just can't bring myself to do this, as much as I want it done. I'd much rather live with the gray, rubberized factory lowers. So THERE!!

 

Good for you. However, jakedasnake90 wanted options for $200 or less, which is why I put that post up. If you can and will spend three or four times that to have yours done, that's excellent, and yes, I am sure it will look somewhat better. Whether it looks 3-4 times better, hard to say - with the right prepwork on the lowers, using filler primer on the stoneguard, and putting the cans of paint into hot water to help make the paint atomization finer, you can do a great job yourself. And since the paint that I was talking about is actual automotive body paint and clearcoat (not just similar-colored spray paint), the finish will look great.

 

The paintscratch paint came in and I am redoing them tomorrow...I'm excited for a perfect match, but except for that "small" disappointment, the paint really does look great. It's shiny and uniform. But it definitely takes some guts to make that first pass with the paint.

I didn't decide to do this myself because my car was a beat-up piece of crap to begin with...my car's body is flawless as well at nearly 10 years old. I did it because I also take pride in my car and these cars look much better (ESPECIALLY the B6) with painted lowers and, as has been said many times before, if you mess it up, you can always pay to have someone else do it right (assuming you committed to having painted lowers at any price beforehand). But if you can do it right yourself for well under $100, why wouldn't you?

For the original poster, I don't think you'll be able to find a shop that will do it for under $200, maybe not even nearly. You might as well call around and get quotes, but you should at least try to do it yourself. It takes a long time from start to finish...about 7 hours (but it's not constant work, most of it is prep work and drying time). You don't have to take off the lower valances in order to paint them...I didn't. If you don't either, be prepared for some back pain since there's is a lot of work that goes into preparing them so that the final product is smooth like the rest of the body.

It's really, really easy to do. And I was as proud as a peacock when I was done.