Kashif:
Yes. You don't fix car bodies that are not broken. Here, the phrase ' first body' puts the seller in the driving wheel during negotiation.

uboma:


I do not agree with you. So one cannot decide to change the colour of his car as i am considering a change of colour myself?

fanex:
it depends on the quality of the job. there are only a handful of experts in Nigeria.

uboma:


I do not agree with you. So one cannot decide to change the colour of his car as i am considering a change of colour myself?

Kashif:


Nobody says you cannot change your car's colour, but this is even more damning at resale. If a buyer sees a car has bee repainted, the seller has a lot of explanation and convincing to do. If your car has no scratches, dents, rusts, you are not going to repaint it (same colour).

Once a car has been repainted, buyers are more careful. Remember the question here bothers on resale. Its easier to sell a car with original factory paint, talking from experience.

Siena:
Contrary to popular belief, you can change the colour of your car in Nigeria, without devaluing it.

I have no idea why the majority believe there are no skilled craftsmen in Nigeria. There are loads. The issues are the average Nigerian would rather spend peanuts, and moan when the paint job turns out bad.

I know of quite a few Nigerians in Nigeria who have had good colour changes, that have been factory standard. My parents had awesome colour changes on their cars back in the 1980's, and that was back when bodyshop skills were not as they are today.

Kashif:


Nobody says you cannot change your car's colour, but this is even more damning at resale. If a buyer sees a car has bee repainted, the seller has a lot of explanation and convincing to do. If your car has no scratches, dents, rusts, you are not going to repaint it (same colour).

Once a car has been repainted, buyers are more careful. Remember the question here bothers on resale. Its easier to sell a car with original factory paint, talking from experience.

fanex:
i recently painted my car after 4 years of running it on our soil and instantly i could spot the difference between. Even though i gave the job to one of the best guys i could find and after he was done it seemed flawless to everyone who saw it. The honest truth is "he ruined the 4 years old paint job". DO NOT PAINT YOUR CAR UNLESS ITS UNAVOIDABLE.

abatically:
Yes repainting a car in Nigeria devalues the car and I have my reasons.

Paint jobs carried out in Nigeria are trash, even the so called oven baking. It will cost thousands of dollar to get a car painted to factory specs. Who in Nigeria is willing to pay that much just to respray a car? I had a slight accident with my car last march, i fixed it and decided to oven bake it with the sane color it came with. After 8 months there were scratches everywhere. Even dust dey cause the car to scratch. It is no way near the paint job that came with the car. OEM paint job can last as long as 15 years whearas Nigerian oven baking will barely last 1 year. U can't blame them though, u get what u pay for.

dejohnky:
pls lemme ask a vital question; is it the paint that scratches itself or what? cos i dont understand. u av okada riders, keke napep, danfo drivers, truck pushers, cart pushers etc on the street who are liable to scratch or damage ur car at anytime!? no dis that every paint a painter uses on ur car as its code and standard. they will only do for u a job that u are willing to pay for. i dont believe their are shabby painters cos weda u like it dis guys are professionals in der field and dem go chop. pay correct money and i promise u u will get a good job, pay egun and u will get a shabby job.

dgitrader:
Interesting. I noticed some repainted cars sparkling bright, but only to start fading and wear off within months. Especially the topmost part of the car that get direct impart of sunlight. Why is that?

Siena:
Contrary to popular belief, you can change the colour of your car in Nigeria, without devaluing it.

I have no idea why the majority believe there are no skilled craftsmen in Nigeria. There are loads. The issues are the average Nigerian would rather spend peanuts, and moan when the paint job turns out bad.

I know of quite a few Nigerians in Nigeria who have had good colour changes, that have been factory standard. My parents had awesome colour changes on their cars back in the 1980's, and that was back when bodyshop skills were not as they are today.

ivoryhouse:

Very true Siena. I painted my landrover and frankly,I wasn't impressed and knew it was a poor job even before I picked up the car. I have been looking around for a company that will do a better job.
A friend of mine found an elderly gentleman who has a paint booth with all the right equipment. My friends 2002 Toyota corola was painted with N120k and it was done to factory quality.
What I noticed is that the paint is one of the issues as most of them use some cheap generic paint for.all brands and all auto body whether made from steel, aluminum or fiber. Also most Nigerians want cheap things. If done right, a paint job should not devalue the car

auhanson:
Ordinary water could work well when it comes to flushing out the dirts/sand and also in th event that you have finished washing your car and got it dirty somehow , you could use ordinary water to flush and wash out the dust,drts and sand particles before coming to mop out your car as earlier described either with or without hydrate with a wet microfiber clothe. Make sure you constantly rinse out sand particles from this clothe so that you do not use it to constantly scratch you clear coat.

Outside this, ordinary water is not good enough as a conventional washing method. Reason is that atmospheric oxygen will always react with water to form oxidation(H2O+ O2 = H2S04) on you paint work. This often changes the color of your paint as well as causing it to lose its shiny lustre property. But a well formulated car wash rather forms a protective shiny cover ontop of your paint work glossing it out to shine aside washing out the dirts wish are carried away by the surd, that is why you must rinse out the surd with enough clean water and avoid washing under direct sunlight, except you have enough clean water handily to rinse out immediately as you are washing a particular portion

auhanson:
Ordinary water could work well when it comes to flushing out the dirts/sand and also in th event that you have finished washing your car and got it dirty somehow , you could use ordinary water to flush and wash out the dust,drts and sand particles before coming to mop out your car as earlier described either with or without hydrate with a wet microfiber clothe. Make sure you constantly rinse out sand particles from this clothe so that you do not use it to constantly scratch you clear coat.

Outside this, ordinary water is not good enough as a conventional washing method. Reason is that atmospheric oxygen will always react with water to form oxidation(H2O+ O2 = H2S04) on you paint work. This often changes the color of your paint as well as causing it to lose its shiny lustre property. But a well formulated car wash rather forms a protective shiny cover ontop of your paint work glossing it out to shine aside washing out the dirts wish are carried away by the surd, that is why you must rinse out the surd with enough clean water and avoid washing under direct sunlight, except you have enough clean water handily to rinse out immediately as you are washing a particular portion

Stylz69:
O

You made a lot of valid points but messed it all up with your chemical equation. How does water react with oxygen to give sulphuric acid? Oxidation has nothing to do with sulphuric acid so refresh your chemistry and correct yourself sharp sharp ...but what do I know.

Fixed:

Oga please don't mislead young Chemistry students.
H₂O +O₂ is not equal to H₂SO₄ PLEASE. That is an acid!

Denn:
Oh....how did I forget.

Using detergents like Omo and Klin which is a common practice in Nigeria etches most paint jobs faster.

This is one of the main reasons for destroyed paint jobs in Nigeria.

We are fist bundled with inferior and low quality paints, obviously imported from China, then we speed up the process with cloth detergent.

I have learnt to use genuine car washing soaps or ordinary water. A car is not a plate and ordinary water can remove most stains.

auhanson:
Waoh!! interesting topic.
If i hadn't been there i would have been confused a lot more. But thank God i have 2 experiences, I bought my w202 c class Nigerian use , the painting work was scratched so i decided and gave it a neat spraying job but not a very expensive type like the amount mentioned here. I spotted a dude who does it well over here and he did it for me . This is the 3rd year and i bet you it will still remain like that for the next 10 years, my car is only looking finer by the day. Out of gratitude, i introduce 4 more guys to him a jaguar guy amongst them who inherited from his Dad, the guy did his and the jaquar turns new and he was able to sell at a very good price and went for a car he could maintain.
Out of the four of us, my car still stands out as the best amongst them. People keep on asking me if i respray it every now and then. So the other 3 guys came to me for advice and i put them through , now they are very happy with their cars still looking good except one of them who had already mess his with all sort of lines and scratches here and there, an honda EOD, and i kept on wondering how he did such a mess.
The bottom line is, some guys knows their onions , they may not even be expensive like this dude, but make sure you delibrately allow them room to make some profit for themselves , a craft man deserve this. Don't drag price with an honest painter.
There are ways to maintain your car paint, don't use dry dusty/sandy rag to mess the paint work (the clear coat) . Is either you wash it with a soft clothe(microfiber clothe) or you leave it untill you have time to do so with plenty of water . Use mild liquid soap, preferably car wash but not detergent nor toilet/key soap except for the tyres.
Always mop up the water from the clear coat with a clean wet microfiber clothe to dry after rinsing out the surd, and preferably with an hydrate spayed on the microfiber clothe if you have one , it help protect the paint and maintains the clear coat from harsh conditions and extreme sunlight.
Once in a while(every 6 month) you could wax it to bring out the painting. Never wake up in the morning and just decide to use any rag to rub off the morning dew in the name of cleaning the car. Nothing kills and scratches paint work than this kind of habit. Leave it if you don't have the time to wash, then wash it later.