DRW CLASSICS

DRW CLASSICS

Call Us: 979-530-7580

Location: Brenham, Tx

The home of classic restorations, factory and show winning paint jobs.

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Hours - Open

Monday 9 AM - 6:30 PM

Tuesday 9 AM - 6:30 PM

Wednesday 9 AM - 6:30 PM

Thursday 9 AM - 6:30 PM

Friday 9 AM - 6:30 PM

Saturday 10 AM- 2:00 PM

Sunday Closed

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If you’re looking for high quality and personal service, you’ve come to the right place. At DRW CLASSICS we’ll give you the attention and personal service you’ll come to expect and enjoy.

We offer the best in "auto restorations". Our rates are competitive, with no hidden fees. We are friendly and will be there to help you every step of the way.

DRW CLASSICS has been in the restoration business for over 35 years. Let us put our experience to work for you.

Choosing the Right Shop

We all shop for the best possible pricing on the things we buy. It makes sense to price shop when having repairs made to the beloved toys we own. One of the biggest mistakes to make is with a body shop that tells you they can only give you a 'round about' price. There are so many many red flags with this pricing system. These shops are trying to see just how much they can drain your pocketbook before you get fed up and pull your car out. This practice is common in the restoration of old cars.

This is how it works. It starts after you get a price from a really good shop that will do all the body work, prep and paint for a set price and write up a contract with everything including all the terms and cost listed. It will also state that if the shop finds any unforeseen damage they will call you (the owner), giving you the cost for the additional work, and let you make the decision on what you want to do. When you look at a competitor, this is where you can run into a shop that will tell you they can probably meet or beat the price quoted. However, they can't give you a price, just a 'round about' price. Lastly, you're told you don't have to enter into a contract with them, all you have to do is drop your car off and they will get started, all you do is just drop by every other Friday and settle up on the hours they have in the car.

Let's say this shop will be charging you a labor rate of $40 per hour (this rate is low by the way), you leave your car in that shop for two weeks and when you stop by you see that the chrome, fenders and doors have been removed and some sanding has been done. Progress!! Now, the shop owner tells you the first week they had 38 hours in your car and this last week they have 62 hours in your car, totaling 100 hours. You ask how can they have 62 hours in the car if they are only open 8 to 5 five days a week? The answer you recieve is that they had to put another person on the job to get it done faster. However, all you see is the car torn down and maybe some sanding. If they are clever they may have primer sprayed on some parts to make that big impression on you.

So, settling up on the labor they have in it so far would be something like this, 100 hours at $40 per hour would total $4,000, plus you owe for the materials they have used on your car thus far. Keep in mind the body work still has to be finished, parts need to be cut in with paint, reinstalled and then the whole car painted. Yes, a lot of work still to be done. Remember what they said, a 'round about' price and you didn't have to enter into a contact, that way if money gets too tight and the cost gets higher then expected, you can stop the work at any time.

You still have to settle up with the time they have into your car, and guess what, you're car is in pieces and you can't take them to court because you didn't get a contract. So now your back even further then when you started the restoration. Why? The next shop you take your car to get it finished has some bad news for you. They cannot guarantee the work that was done by the previous shop and in order to honor any kind of guarantee, they would need to start the car from scratch, reworking anything the previous shop had done. My friend, this is when you finally realize just how bad you got taken by the shop with a 'round about' price and no contract.

The contract is one of the most important parts of the restoration

We at DRW CLASSICS pride ourselves on the abilitly to give you a true cost of the work to be done on your car. Don't get us wrong, sometimes we do miss some things that are right in front of us, however, we won't ask you to pay for our mistakes. That being said we don't make many mistakes.

Paint Jobs - You know that old saying "you get what you pay for", this is just what you don't want!

Most customers think that all we have to do to get a car ready for paint is mask it up, scuff the surface and spray that perfect paint job. Well, this can't be further from the truth. A really nice paint job starts as soon as we get the car into the shop. First, we remove all chrome and weather stripping, this needs to be removed to insure a quailty paint job. Next, to remove any wax, silicones, road oil and grime, we wash the car thoroughly. At this point, we can start all the surface preparation work.

We can't tell you just how many times we've seen paint and clear that is just peeling and flaking off a car. The reason for this happening is that the shop responsible just has the crew scuff the panels to be painted (with what we in the body shop business call scotch brite pads which come in either red or gray. This is the fastest and cheapest way to save on materials and labor.) All surfaces must be sanded the proper way for each job, if this isn't done you're only wasting paint.

Another practice that we have seen shops use is what is called a "three-year prorated guarantee". Let's break this down to understand it better. To begin with, many shops hire people off the street that need a job and may not really be qualified. On one hand this is great because that makes the world go round, but, what does that mean for you and your car? First, the price alone should give you the biggest hint. Any company would need to make a profit after paying their overhead (i.e. paint, sanding & masking crew) and the cost of materials, therefore, corners are cut somewhere. This is where your car comes in. The prep work on the car and also the quatlity of materials used on the car is where some of the cuts are made. Now we have a clear understanding how these shops can paint cars so cheaply. Having seen this first hand is why I have gone on my own.

This brings us to the "three-year prorated guarantee". It works sorta like this: let's say you get a really great price of $1,200 to $1400 for a premire, top of the line paint job. Sounds good doesn't it? Ok, when you pick up your car it looks all pretty and shiney. After driving the car for a year, if the paint work and materials that were used, last that long, you may to notice the paint just doesn't shine the way it did a year ago, or you see some paint peeling off. With the guarantee, you go back to the shop that did the paint work and they offer to repaint it for you. Remember, the guarantee is prorated. What does this mean for you, say you paid $1200 and got one years worth of use, that means you used one third of the price of the paint job. You're car gets repainted for $400 plus tax. So now you have $1600 in that paint job. Right? What makes you think that in one more year the paint will look any better than it did when you brought it in for a repaint?

Now take a close look at your chrome and weather stripping around the windows for where the prep/paint crew accidentally sanded them or got overspray on them. These are all signs of a very cheap paint job. Not good for the value of your car. Also, some car lots will use these kinds of shops knowing the quality of the paint work. However, it will get the car sold and nobody guarantees the work either way.

So the moral of this story is.... That's right, you get what you pay for! So, all in all, the cheaper paint job could cost you $2400 over a period of three years. Not far off the price of a professional-quailty paint job if you were informed from the start.

Our Guarantee

Now what we guarantee:

Five year unconditional guarantee on labor defects and materials.

That the car will shine in the fifth year, just as nice as the day you picked it up after we painted it.

And if by chance there is a problem within five years, we will make the repairs free. That's right! NO CHARGE!

Fabrication and custom work pricing may vary

Let us take your ride from photo A to photo B. All work done by the book, no short cuts. Just professional work that a working man can afford.

Photo A

Photo B

We take pride in our work. We can give you a show winning paint job for a lot less then others, and we stand behind our work for (5) five years. The car at the left was painted just 1 1/2 years prior to us getting the car. Customer told us the shop that painted it first would not stand behind the job. The body shop up the street wanted $8,000 to fix the chipped paint and refinish it. We did the car for less then half of what the shop up the street wanted. Customer was very happy.

All finished up !!!!

Body repairs, base coat applied, clear coats applied and wet sanded and buffed. Customer helped us install the chrome hub caps for the final look. Also installed new towing mirrors for better vision when towing. I wish they made them to fit my van as well. But no luck there. Anyway customer was very pleased with the job and the customer told us that she was quoted $9000. for the repairs and paint job. We completed the job for $3500. including paint materials using PPG. Makes you wonder don't it? Well it just goes to show that it doesn't take a ROCK STAR WANTA BE to apply a sweet paint job, just a honest company to do the job for a fair price to the customer.

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This nice 2001 Dodge Ram owned by Sandra of Coupland, Texas went home 04/29/2013. Maybe Sandra will take the truck on a road trip with the money she saved.

My son was also happy with the final finish on this truck and he is very picky.