Repainting my car

[MikeLee2484]

ok, i dont know a lot about painting, basically nothing. the situation im in is that i have a 96 audi a4 thats in really good shape with low miles. i want to keep it for quite a while. eventually i want to repaint it the same color, over time ive gotten some bumps, scratches and chips. so i was wondering about what i should know if i want to take it to a shop and have them paint it. anything and everything would be great, things to watch out for, where not to go (is maaco or another chain a place i should avoid), what would be a reasonable price, stuff like that. thanks.

[MikeLee2484]

come on theres got to be someone in this forum that can help me out. anyone. throw me a friggin bone here.

[jveik]

i dunno, im just painting my project myself. make sure and dont use macco if you plan on keeping the car very long or if you want the paint to be a long lasting finish. you can use macco if you wash it a lot and keep it good and clean.

ive heard that if you do a lot of the prep work yourself then they charge a lot less, like if you sand it all down and stuff and mask off everything yourself it will be a lot cheaper probably.

[mike@af]

Search through the Auto Painting subforum under Car Detailing.

Sometimes doing the prep work can cost more because the shop has to redo the work taking longer than it would to do it themselves from the start.

[jveik]

yeah, i was just saying it as if you could assume that the person did a good job on it. if you suck at masking stuff, then you're right, it would probably cost more... very interesting