Here's the thing nobody tells you at the body shop counter: most paint damage has a $25 fix and a $500 fix, and they both work. The right one depends on the damage, not the salesman.
We sell DIY paint, so you know where we stand — but the numbers below include the jobs where we'll tell you straight: pay the shop.
The real numbers
| Damage | Body shop | DIY | Our honest take |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stone chip (1–5 of them) | $150–$500 | $25–$40 (touch-up bottle) | DIY. This is exactly what touch-up paint is for. |
| Scratch through clearcoat | $300–$800 | $25–$60 (touch-up + polish) | DIY first. Worst case you're out $40 and the shop quote is still there. |
| Scuffed bumper corner | $350–$700 | $50–$120 (aerosol) | DIY if you'll accept 95% perfect. Shop if it's a lease return. |
| One full panel respray | $500–$1,000 | $100–$200 (aerosol or quart) | Depends on your patience. Spraying a panel is a real afternoon of work. |
| Hood + bumper (front-end rash) | $1,000–$2,000 | $200–$400 | Confident DIYer: yes. First-timer: practice on the bumper first. |
| Whole car respray | $3,000–$10,000+ | $500–$1,000 (gallon kit) | Thousands of our customers do this. It's a weekend-plus job and the savings are enormous — but go in with your eyes open. |
| Crash damage / dents / metal work | Whatever they quote | — | Pay the shop. Paint can't fix geometry. |
Why the shop costs 10–20× more
It's not a scam — you're paying for labor, booth time, blending adjacent panels so nothing shows, and a guarantee. A good shop's work is genuinely invisible. The question is whether invisible is worth $475 more than you'd never notice unless you were looking. On a leased Audi, maybe. On your daily driver with 80k miles, probably not.
The one thing that decides DIY success
Color match. The reason DIY repairs look DIY is almost never technique — it's paint that's merely close. Factory paint codes exist because "silver" describes 400 different silvers. We mix to your exact factory code, which is the same starting point the body shop uses. From there, the $25 bottle and the $500 job are working with the same color.
Where to start
- Chips and small scratches → a 2oz factory-matched touch-up bottle, brush in the cap
- Panels and bumpers → aerosols in your factory color, ready to spray
- Feeling ambitious → full car kits, everything in one box
And if your damage is in the "pay the shop" row: pay the shop. We'll still be here for the stone chips afterwards.
