so, I would do what I have seen other guys do to thier XJs w/ Rustoleum and good results if it were just mine; as-it-stands, my wife doesn't want the "homegrown/off-road-centric" paint scheme from a can that I sggted and seeks to have her beloved XJ ( I just lifted with Rusty's 3" leafpacks )painted from it's OEM Upcountry Red with the Champagne trim to completely TAN ( kinda cool for her to think of and would actually look great) but I am not sure which is best means of achieving this ; MAACO? Local Shop? Anyone have MAACO paint thier rig and what kinda cost to cover a Red XJ 4door with TAN and not show the Red underneath? I am gonna have the HW black and just get new Crown or RR fender replacements and bumper caps etc in black....where would you have thius done if you were me?
here is her XJ after last weekends removal of suspension parts that had accrued over 350k miles by us. We want her desert tan now.....
https://i.imgur.com/89ou5uB.jpg

 

Maaco is hit and miss each one is a franchise so do your home work on the one you want to use.Then you have options like do you want normal car paint or something harder and tougher?The tougher paint will be the stuff they use on tractors or carc paint the military uses on everything.

 

A good body shop using good materials.

 

X2 what Fred said. Research a good local shop and do some negotiating. You could do some prep work to save money.

 

Look into local plastidip shops...if they are very reputible they can do fantastic work and it's removable if you want to change the color....it will run you under 1000 dollars.....if you go to. A local body shop your not going to get a quality job is in the 4000-6000 dollars....those are estimates based on new jersey standards ( I'm a painter that has worked in multiple quality shops)

 

In norcal $3,500-4,500 is the going rate for a good paint job with good paint.

Max

 

I have $200 in my complete OD color change, I also have around 25 to 30 hours of my time in it.

 

theres a reason maaco costs 800 and a real shop costs thousands. yes they do use a much lesser paint but really its all in the prep work. even cheap paint can look damn good. you cant just scuff your car in 15 min and mask and shoot, it will look like ****. it takes time bodywork is like 99% labor 1% materials lol.

 

I once worked for one of them cheapo paint shops,Their idea of sanding was a fast rub down with a red 3m pad,And the paint they used was the cheapest stuff you could buy and smelt like house paint no joke.Another option is vinyl wrap its not the cheapest but will look as good as paint,And if you ever need to replace just one panel of it they can do it easy.

 

Find a good body guy that does work on the side.

 

A good body guy is hard anymore most i know think bondo will fix anything.

 

thanks, all. Help and info was appreciated.