Best Price on a "decent"Paint Job?

[Kid_Hatchback]

Anyone ever got a decent deal on paint jobs that turned out pretty decent. I'm trying to get ideas on what it would cost to paint my 87 lxi hatchback all gloss white. The reason i ask is because i've got the compressor and the professional sprayer parts laying around the house already. BUt i've never painted an auto before. I've heard alot of unhappy people complain about Macco jobs and i figure if they're gonna do a shitty job, i can do the best i can and save the 250 or so.

[TeKKnoTeKK]

well if you end up doing it yourself you are looking at about 60$ a gallon for good paint depending on the color.

[Bobs89LXi]

You should talk to Yasu (YK86). He has had a Maaco paintjob done on his car, and it doesn't look too bad.

[YK86]

If you are up for the challange and have patience, try painting it yourself. The key is to find the right speed and distance to spray the paint. Fast enough so it won't run but not too fast that the paint won't be glossy or have thin spots. If you can find the spot where it's ALMOST about to run, that is usually what I find to work well.
If you are going to Maaco, pay to get lots of good clearcoat put on after the base. The cheap paint isn't the real problem it seems. It's because in there lower end paint package, they mix the clearcoat with the base (they try to make it sound sophisticated by calling it "integrated clearcoat"). But the shitty thing is it has less resistance to UV and heat which is why it loses the gloss after a few years from oxidation. Real paint jobs apply the clearcoat after the base which gives it much more resistance to the elements. You can always take your own paint, prep it yourself, etc. Make sure you pester them alot on the things you DO and DON'T want and check up on them every day if you have time just to show them you really do care about your car. If you aren't 100% sure you will keep the car for a long time, Maaco is the way to go. When I got mine done, it really did look glossy and very metallic but it's now on it's 4th year and the paint is losing it's gloss. But hey, I only paid $400 CAD (about $250) and i think it was MORE than worth what I paid to have it look the way it did. Although it isn't that glossy now, I still get comments on how there is tons of metallic flakes in the paint which surprises most. Hope this helps a bit.

[SWELLS]

Don't be shy on the cost of paint. If you use a single stage paint (such as Dupont's Centari) you will lose your shine in no time at all. When spraying I generally use Dupont's Chroma-Base, Which is a two stage. The base coat is real easy to spray, but the clear coat can be real tricky. It's made to shine and if not careful it will start to run on you. But the good thing after bout a month you can wet sand and polish the blemish out. You maybe wanting the cheap way but in the long run you will regret it

[damackz]

DON'T USE CENTARI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! pay extra and do a base/clear paint job or else it would look like crap!