I heard that if you prep the car before you go get it painted, that it is a lot cheaper. But how do you prep a car for a paint job, and is it easy or hard?

 

Prep work is the most time consuming part of a repaint. Pick out a paint shop and go in and talk to them. Tell them you want to get a good spray but are crunched on the budget and ask if they'd let you do the prep work. If they say yeah, then ask them exactly what they'd like you to do.

Typically it involves sanding the existing paint down, filling any dents, scratches, or pits, and removing anything you don't want painted (chrome trim, etc.) They may even let you come in and do your own masking work (tape/paper to keep overspray from getting everything).

Believe it or not but you can actually get a really nice paint job from Maaco, if you are ready to pay for a nice paint job. If you only pay a custom airbrusher $200 to spray your car he'd most likely turn you down because it's not worth his time and he doesn't want some piece of crap out there with his name tied to it.

Another trick to get paint shops to work with you is to get it done when they're not very busy and they need work to keep the guys busy. I know that the road construction in front of the Maaco in Lacey is hurting their business, so they might be willing to talk. (they're family friends and I used to work for them)
It also might be beneficial to travel a little to a small town that doesn't have as much business.

 

One more thing to remember is to always, I mean always wet sand and wash every thing you are going to paint. And don't put your hands on it or anything, use rubber gloves, but make sure they do not have anything on them, or it can really screw up your paint job..