Rep Power: 0

Time to paint. I am down to two color choices, see other thread. What type or brand of paint is recommended? How much would you say I need? How much clearcoat do I need. I've heard of anywhere from 4-8 coats of clearcoat? Anyone have any guidance in this area?

I'm thinking that If I provided the paint and clearcoat that the cost of the prof job would go down a little.

 
Rep Power: 0

PFG is a good source, however most of the cost in paint is associated with labor... mostly prep work. If you want to save money don't buy the paint yourself, a lot of these paint shops get it in bulk and its cheaper through them. If you want to save money do the prep work yourself, but do a damn good job because bad prep means horrible paint job, scratches, dings, and other imperfections get multiplied in visibility when paint is added, primer doesn't do much away from filling in the swirls of 600 grit dry sand paper.

 
Rep Power: 313

No, don't do your own prep work unless you really know what your doing... It's a good way to save some money with a crap result in the end. I agree, let the paint shop supply the paint.

 
Rep Power: 0

Sanding and paint removal is def. more touchy, however you could do some of the easier things like hardware/accessory removal. But honestly, getting a custom paint job is really a bad investment on newer cars, especially if you don't have any rust (like you would on a 60 or 70 vehicle). Preformance I can understand. But a nice paint job is at least a couple thousand, no point in getting a 600 dollar job at maaco, you will wish you just stuck with the factory job. Aside from that, there are a lot of nice things you can do with 2,000. Like save it or invest it for when you really need it. I don't mean to preach (actually I do) but you never know what can happen to your finances and some things are more important than looks.

 
Rep Power: 256

get a flat satin paint no clear needed.