High end reputable shops that want the finished product to be perfect aren't going to let you buy some funky azz paint or let you sand the car. They know what works, quit trying to save a $$ and let the professionals do there job. Body shops can buy paint from their suppliers cheaper than you can....Gary

 

Sanding/prep is by far the most time consuming part of any paint job...and also the most important. If they're only charging you $50 to sand it....pay them, because that's atleast 5-6 hours of elbow grease you're saving yourself (if it's done right). I don't know how body shops factor in sanding time into the price...but what he qouted you doesn't seem right at al because that's about $10/hr by my calculations. On a side note, unless you really know what youre doing, I wouldn't attempt to sand it yourself anyways. If it's not done right, the entire paint job is a waste and will look like **** and/or not last. Let the shop that paints your car sand your car....this way if anything goes horribly wrong, they can't blame it on your sanding skills.

Another side note, the paint (oem color) for our cars is NOT cheap. I've painted quite a few smaller pieces, and estimating from that knowledge, I would guess the price for enough paint supply to do the entire car to be atleast $600-$1000 regardless of if you're a shop getting wholesale prices or not. Unless they're using a really low-end paint brand.

 

Yep not cheap, PPG Deltron 2000 runs about $425 retail ($250 wholesale) a gallon just for the base coat. Then you have to add reducer, hardener, primer, and clear. Would cost even more if you get into Glasurit or Spies Hecker