Auto Paint Shop
Auto Paint in Central Ohio
Every collision repair ends in paint, but the booth does more than finish accident work. A full repaint to undo years of sun and clear-coat failure, a colour change, a work fleet that needs to match, a car whose factory finish has simply given out — all of it runs through the same paint department, and all of it lives or dies on the same details: surface prep, the right materials, a clean booth, and a painter who matches to the car rather than to a code.
Most of what we spray is collision refinishing — bringing a repaired panel back to factory appearance and blending it into the vehicle so the work disappears. That has its own page: see paint repair. This page is the wider picture — what the paint shop takes on beyond a single damaged panel, and why the same standard applies whether it is one fender or the whole car. We hold every bit of it to the same OEM refinish procedures.
Not Drivable? We’ll Come and Get It.
Free local towing is available to qualified customers based on location — just ask when you open your case. Rental vehicles are available as well, so you are not left arranging one on your own while we handle the work.
Start Your RepairWhat We Paint
Collision Refinishing
The largest share of our paint work: restoring a repaired panel to factory colour and finish, then blending into the panels around it so the repair cannot be found. Matched to your car as it is today, not to the paint code alone.
Paint repair →Complete Repaints & Colour Change
When the factory finish has failed across the whole car — fading, oxidation, clear coat peeling — or you simply want a different colour, we strip, prep and refinish the entire vehicle to the same standard we hold a single panel to. Done in a booth, not a driveway.
Custom & Commercial
Custom colour work, and lettering, striping and graphics for work vehicles and fleets. Depending on the job we handle it here or route it to the right bench within our shops — either way it is one point of contact for you.
Why Drivers Choose Excite for Paint
The last wipe-down before colour. A tack cloth lifts dust the eye never sees — because anything left on the panel ends up under the paint.
- Matched to your car, not to the code. Paint ages in the sun, so we match to the actual panel and confirm it on sprayed test cards in daylight before any colour touches the vehicle.
- Blended so the repair disappears. New colour is feathered into the neighbouring panels rather than stopped hard at a seam — the difference between a repair you cannot find and one you can.
- Booth-sprayed and properly cured. Colour goes on in a controlled, filtered booth, not in the open where dust ends up cured into the finish. It is the single biggest reason a professional paint job outlasts a cheap one.
- The right system for your finish. Single-stage, base-coat/clear-coat, metallic, pearl or tri-coat — each is sprayed the way it was built, in the correct number of stages, over prepared and primed surfaces with corrosion protection restored.
- I-CAR, ASE, PPG and 3M certified technicians and estimators. PPG and 3M certification is refinishing and materials training specifically — which is most of what a paint job actually is.
- Free assessment, up-front pricing, work that is warrantied. You get the recommendation and the number before anything starts, and the vehicle comes back cleaned inside and out.
Quick Paint Questions
The questions we hear most about repaints, colour matching and custom work. If yours isn’t here, call the shop at (614) 930-6103 — we’re glad to walk you through it.
What kinds of paint work do you do?
Three broad kinds. Collision refinishing, which is refinishing a repaired panel and blending it into the car — the bulk of what we spray. Complete repaints and colour changes, when the whole finish has failed or you want a different colour. And custom and commercial work: custom colour, plus lettering, striping and graphics for work vehicles and fleets. All of it is booth-sprayed to the same standard.
Can you repaint my whole car, and what does it cost?
Yes. Cost depends almost entirely on how much prep the car needs and how far you want the paint to reach — a straight respray in the same colour is one thing; going into the door jambs, under the hood and inside the trunk for a colour change is another. Rather than quote a range that would not fit your car, we look at the vehicle and give you a firm number before any work starts. The assessment is free.
Can you change the colour of my car?
We can. A proper colour change means painting the areas most shops hide — jambs, under the hood, the trunk and the door shuts — so the car does not read as its old colour the moment a door opens. It costs more than a same-colour respray for exactly that reason. Worth knowing: a colour change can affect how the vehicle is described on its registration, so it is a good idea to update that afterward.
My clear coat is peeling on the roof and hood. Can you fix that?
Yes, and it is common in central Ohio — sun and weather break clear coat down over time, and once it starts to haze or flake it cannot be buffed back. The repair is to strip the failed areas to a sound surface, refinish them, and blend into the surrounding panels. Caught while it is the roof and hood rather than the whole car, it is a smaller job. There is more on that on our paint repair page.
Will a repaint match the rest of my car?
When only part of the car is painted, yes — that is what colour matching and blending are for. We match to the panel in front of us rather than to the factory code alone, because paint ages, and then feather the new colour into the adjacent panels so there is no hard line. A full repaint sidesteps the question entirely, since the whole car is being brought to one colour at once.
Do you do custom colours, lettering or fleet graphics?
Yes. We handle custom colour, and lettering, striping and graphics for work trucks and fleets — matched and consistent across every vehicle so a fleet looks like a fleet. Depending on the scope we do it in-house or route it to the right bench within our shops, but it stays one point of contact for you. Tell us what you have in mind and we will lay out the options.
How long does a paint job take?
It depends on scope. A single blended panel is a different job from a full repaint, and prep — the sanding, cleaning and priming underneath — is most of the time either way. Paint also needs to cure: it is safe to drive within hours, but keeps hardening for a few weeks, during which we ask you to hand wash gently and skip automatic washes. We give you a realistic timeline with your estimate.
Why is a booth repaint worth more than a cheap production paint job?
Because you are paying for what you cannot see. A cheap repaint saves its money on prep and on where it is sprayed — less sanding, thinner materials, an open shop instead of a filtered booth — and those are exactly the things that decide whether the finish lasts or starts lifting and fading in a year. Prep and booth time are most of the cost, and they are most of the result.
Do I need an appointment?
It helps, and you can request one online or send photos of the vehicle from your phone — often enough for us to tell you roughly what you are looking at before you drive over. The assessment and the estimate are free, and you get the number before any work begins.
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