What it costs · 9 min read
Body repair costs, boiled down
- Paint repairs are priced by panel, not by the size of the mark.
- Lacquer peel and heavy fade usually need refinishing, not polishing.
- Part panel blends are cheaper than full panel resprays where they will hold.
- Metallic and pearl paints cost more to match than solid colours.
Paint work is priced by panel and paint type
Paint repairs are almost always priced by the panel, since preparation, masking and paint stages have to be carried out for each panel worked on regardless of how small the damage looks. The type of paint on the car, solid, metallic or pearl, then adjusts that base price further.
Cost by type of paint damage
| Damage type | What it involves | Guide price |
|---|---|---|
| Single stone chip | Touch in and blend | £40 to £80 |
| Multiple chips on one panel | Fill and blend across the panel | £90 to £180 |
| Scratch through colour | Localised blend or SMART repair | £120 to £250 |
| Lacquer peel, small area | Strip and refinish affected area | £150 to £300 |
| Full panel respray, solid colour | Strip, prime, base and lacquer | £220 to £400 |
| Full panel respray, metallic or pearl | As above with careful colour matching | £300 to £600 |
Chips, scratches and lacquer peel
- Stone chips are small isolated marks, usually on the front bumper, bonnet leading edge or wing mirrors, caused by road debris.
- Scratches vary from light surface marks to deep lines through the colour, and depth decides the method as covered in our dedicated scratch cost guide.
- Lacquer peel happens when the clear top coat lifts away from the colour underneath, usually from age or a poor original repair, and it needs the affected lacquer removed and reapplied rather than a simple polish.
Fade and clouding
Fade is a gradual loss of colour depth and shine from UV exposure over years, most visible on horizontal panels like the bonnet and roof. Clouding often shows as a hazy or milky look in the lacquer, sometimes from environmental damage such as bird droppings or tree sap left too long. Both usually need the affected panel refinished rather than simply polished once they are established, since polishing alone tends to only mask the problem temporarily.
Part panel blend versus full panel refinish
A part panel blend paints only the damaged section and blends the edge into the surrounding original paint, which is cheaper and often invisible on a well executed repair. A full panel refinish paints the entire panel edge to edge, which is usually needed where damage is close to a panel edge, covers a large area, or where the surrounding paint condition would make a blend visible. We will always recommend whichever gives the best result for the lowest reasonable cost.
Metallic and pearl paint uplift
Metallic paints contain fine flakes that must be applied and matched carefully so the flake pattern looks consistent with the surrounding paint, and pearl finishes add a further translucent layer on top of that. Both take longer to match correctly than a solid colour, which is reflected in a higher price for the same size of repair. Our guide at /car-paint-colour-matching explains this process in more detail.
Multiple panels in one job
Where several panels need attention, whether from a single incident or general condition, we price each panel individually but there can be efficiencies in booking them together, since setup and paint mixing costs are shared. It is worth telling us about all the affected panels up front rather than booking one at a time.
Pinning down your paint price
- 01Photograph each area of paint damage in good daylight.
- 02Let us know if the paint is solid, metallic or pearl if you know it, though we can usually tell from photos.
- 03Send everything to us by WhatsApp with your vehicle details.
- 04We will give you a free no-obligation estimate covering all the panels involved.
Questions people ask us
- Why does paint repair get priced per panel rather than per mark
- Because preparation, masking and paint stages are carried out panel by panel regardless of how small the individual mark looks.
- Can lacquer peel be fixed with polishing
- No, polishing only masks lacquer peel temporarily, and the affected lacquer usually needs to be removed and reapplied properly.
- Is a full respray always needed for fade or clouding
- Not always the whole car, but the affected panel usually needs refinishing rather than polishing once fade or clouding is established.
- Does metallic paint always cost more to repair than solid colour
- Generally yes, because matching the flake pattern in metallic and pearl paints takes more time than matching a flat solid colour.
Where to go next
Unsure what your paint damage needs
Send us photos of the affected panels and we will tell you plainly whether it is a blend or a full respray, with a free no-obligation estimate.
Workshop hours
Monday – Friday 8:30am – 6:30pm
Saturday 9:00am – 4:00pm
Sunday Closed