Does painting a classic car decrease its value?
17/02/2021
Repainting a classic car will affect the value of the vehicle. In general if the paint job is better than the current state of the car and is in an original colour then you will increase the value of your vehicle. If you paint it in a non-original colour, or any colour not available from the manufacturer, you will probably decrease the value of the car.
Things that will decrease the value
- Poor quality paint job – a poor quality paint job will absolutely decrease the value of your car. The quality needs to be at least as good as it would have been off the production line. This will mainly come down to the prep work put in before the repaint. Ensure more time is spent prepping then painting.
- Non-original colour – Repainting a vehicle standard colours other then it came from the factory will perhaps reduce the value with purists, however painting a vehicle non standard colours will severely reduce the resale value. In 2020 the Custom painted “Barbie Rosa Pink” Range Rover belonging to Katie Price, failed to sell for £60,000 and even at a £10,000 reduction the dealer still had to offer a 60 month payment period to attract buyers. Standard colour models are currently selling online for £60,000 without issue.
Things that will increase the value
- Good quality re-spray – You should ensure your re-sprayer takes it back to bare metal and not just touch it up and fills and sands for a smooth finish with all trim removed. It should look like it just rolled off the production line as a minimum quality standard.
- Manufacturer’s colours – Repainting with the original manufacturers colour is important to maintain or increase the value. The original colour code is often written on the vehicle somewhere. There is a guide to help you find the colour code on the Holts Auto website here.