Paint or Raptor coating

Looking for opinions, which I'm sure everyone has at least one.

When I bought my truck a few years ago I was very aware of the poor condition the paint was in. It was definitely used on a lot of gravel roads and beating the bush through the woods. It has many spots where paint was rubbed through because of a cap that was not adequately protected from the truck surface, so a few spots of surface rust- but no holes. The body and frame are quite solid, mechanically I keep up with maintenance and it is a fair running vehicle. Truck is a regular cab 2.7l 4x4 auto with about a quarter million miles.

I would like to give some attention to the body surface to improve it's appearance (and to help prevent any rust from starting to take hold). Currently the truck spends most of it's time on the road, but I do intend on doing some off road camping in the near future, and maybe on a more regular basis.

So, I've been debating about either painting or Raptor lining the entire truck. I feel paint would keep the resale value up, but probably not as much as it will cost to paint it. Raptor lining seems to be a cheaper way to go and will protect the truck when it is taken off road.

What are your thoughts? Will Raptor lining depreciate the value of the truck too much, or do you think it would increase it's value. These little regular cab 4-cyl trucks don't have much value to begin with which is making me think the paint route might not really be worth the effort or cost.

 

I’ve been tossing this around too and am pretty sure I’m just gonna paint it, probably with some of the duplicolor paint shop paints. Fairly cheap, similar prep to liner, better looking and way less of a pain if I need to revisit it later.

 

personally me I say paint. Especially if you plan on keep the truck. Yea it will be costly especially if you plan to get a good quality clear coat. Looks better IMO. At the end its your rig and you know how much your budget is

 

I fixed some paint chipping just after I bought it and use some "better quality" paint that was put in an aerosol can and then cleared coated it too. Now the clear coat from that job is pealing off. Seem if you're not painting it in a paint booth with all the proper tools and chemicals then paint is just not going to last.

 

Paint is definitely a better look, and I do plan on keeping it for a while. But it's duties may be shifting to more off road in the near future. A low end paint job done by a shop would run me about $3K, and prices go up from there. You soon get to investing way more than the truck is worth, just so you can say it looks pretty. Raptor lining, while not as attractive, will add a fair amount of protection from off road encounters with Pennsylvania woodlands. And the prep work can be done with common backyard mechanic tools.

 

That thing looks awesome, paint looks really good from this picture. I'm sure its worse closer up but you'll have to show the areas of wear to convince anyone else it needs work.

 

Thank you. I try to keep up with it. Installed the FJ wheels last year, upgraded to 4runner seats the year before that and I'm in the process of adding cruise control and power window and locks this summer.

 

Raptor liner will only depreciate the value if the person looking to buy it doesn't want a raptor lined truck. Some people want that. That said, most people probably don't want raptor so you'd be limiting you target audience when selling.

But either way you look at it, you aren't likely to see a return on your investment. A nice paint job isn't going to increase the resale value by an equal or greater amount than it cost for the paint, and a cheap paint job will make it worse.

Besides, you've already "ruined" any sort of resale value on it with all your custom mods and stuff. The minute I hear someone did some custom wiring mods to it, I'd run. I have a hard enough time with my own electrical gremlins, I'm not about to pick up someone else's.

So if you want to see the greatest return on your investment, do what YOU want to it that makes the most sense for YOU and your budget, and stop worrying about what some hypothetical person in the future might pay for it.

 

95% of a paint job is prep. I’ve had surprisingly good luck with duplicolor stuff in the past, even in a rattle can

 

Maybe some paint correction is all that’s needed

 

Is prep and finishing. Unless you have a paint booth and factory programmed robot, it's pretty inevitable you'll have orange peel that needs to be wet sanded and buffed

 

Your paint looks in great shape. I'd go paint correction despite my Raptor liner love.

 

Paint correction first.


But also, never Raptor

 

Personally i prefer monstaliner to raptor liner . I did a 93 yukon in monstaliner and it looked great. If you plan on offroading her regularly paint will look horrible in not much time..... im all for bedliner. If you go bedliner though, go for a bland color. White , tan, grey. I think those colors are pretty safe. Red bedliner is very in your face and while it looks good in paint , bedliner not so much. This is the yukon i did in monstaliner

 

Based off of the photos I’ve seen, try paint correction first. Maybe a good buff will help you out
My truck had terrible clear coat issues and it was cheaper for me to Raptor it.
I love it and so does everyone else

Yes paint correction first, and Raptorliner is sweet

Red bedliner you say….
Also I dig your Yukon and monstaliner.

 

X2 on paint correction. If that doesn't work, my vote is paint.

 

I know and understand the paint correction route is favorable, I've done my fair share while working for a business that reconditioned limos and hearses. The owner was super particular. Anyways, if it were just scratches I would definitely go that route, but the places where a cap rubbed through the paint on the cab and bed rails and is now showing signs of surface rust, paint/lining are the only real options. There are a couple small soft dents and the bed is very peppered with stone chips in front of the rear tires, so I think they would be unnoticeable with a liner type coating.

I would say Nicklovin's example of how nice a good raptor lining can turn out is leaning me in that direction.

 

Paint correction can include small touch ups too... I just wouldn't repaint the whole thing in your state. No point sanding down to base coat if you're just replacing with the same paint.