Major Paint Problems

[Laughing-Man]

Ok, here's the problem, my paint looks like crap.

That said, on the specifics. First of all the previous owners of my car haven't taken the best care of the car. They backed into something at one point resulting in a big dent/scrape on the rear passenger side. Second is a huge dent and multiple scrapes under the drivers door where someone ran along something, probably a curb. They also managed to shut the seatbelt in the drivers door at one point which effectively removed a large chunk of paint right under the door.

My newest gripe is that the clear coat on my, stock, rear spoiler -I like to call it a surf board- is starting to bake off in the wonderful summer heat. The car looks ok from ten feet or more, but up close it's just terrible.

I just don't know what to do. This is the newest car I've ever had, and paying for it myself, I really want to keep it in as good a condition as possible. The biggest problem is that the big dents are going to rust, and I absolutely hate rust. The dent on the rear is easy enough to hammer out, since I can get to the back of it by taking off the tail light, the other would have to have a stud welded on it to pull it off since it's on the rocker panel.

I'd like to fix the car, but realistically, I know there is no way I can do the paint myself and have it look anywhere near acceptable. Because of that, I am left wondering, if I did the body work at my dad's shop, we have all the tools necessary for the body work and we're not too bad at it, how much do you guys think it would cost me to have the car professionally repainted?

The car would be a solid color, probably back to the stock black, even though I think the car would look cooler blue. Then, depending on the cost I could either find some new vinyl stripes or have them painted on. I doubt I can afford to have the car repainted, but I figure it doesn't hurt to ask for some input.

I got the car really cheap because the previous owner joined the army, stopped caring about the car and quit making payments. Then the car dealership couldn't sell the car because nobody else wanted a Neon with a five-speed. Since I paid less than 2k for the car, I don't really mind putting some money into it that will make it look better and hopefully increase it's resale if I ever decide to sell it.

P.S.-I found out about the previous owner from his little brother who my little brother ran into one day. Just thought it was kinda weird.

[Unknown]

Best bet is to just go talk to local body/paint shops and see what they say. I've heard of shops only charging $300 while others say the same thing could cost $1200. For me to get my trunk filled, painted and some blending it will cost $400-700... depending on who I went with.