Need a body shop in/near Delaware, I'm don't know who to trust Options

[Phoenix914]

Having had no luck with a couple of local body shops (they won't call me back), I'm asking the group if anyone knows of any decent ones in my area. I got a quote from the nearby MAACO, and the guy seemed like an OK dude, but I'm still wary. I'm located in Milford, Delaware. For anyone who doesn't know about this area, you have to drive somewhere else to get almost anything done. I don't mind a bit of a drive to find a decent shop.

What I need is a some minor body work (no serious rust problems) and a purdy paint job. The car has been painted a few times over the years and needs to be stripped, too (so I'm told). This isn't a show car, just a daily/weekend driver.

It would be nice to have this teener lookin nice for Hershey in April! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/driving.gif)

Thanks, all.

[jimkelly]

what quote did the nearby maaco give you?

i just want paint mostly stripped and a decent coat of low budget paint.

how tough is it to get a 914 to pass inspection in DE ??

jim

[Phoenix914]

what quote did the nearby maaco give you?

i just want paint mostly stripped and a decent coat of low budget paint.

how tough is it to get a 914 to pass inspection in DE ??

jim

The quote I got from Maaco was for repairing some dings and small rust spots, chemically stripping the whole car ($1000), fixing the front turn signal holes that had been filled ($800), mounting a new front spoiler and spraying the exterior and two door sills with their best base/clear paint job. The whole enchilada was about $5400. I've since done most of the work on the turn signal holes myself. I'm also not sure if the door sills really need to be sprayed right now - they're still original and it would save me $200. I did get a good feeling about the owner when we met, so they're still in the running.

So for stripping and their low budget paint you can probably get out of there for no more than $1500, assuming there's no body work to be done. I think their cheapest enamel paint was around $299 and the most expensive base/clear was $799.

And I'm not sure about inspecting the 914 in DE, as I've not had to do it yet. Mine is currently tagged in Maryland. I'll probably have to get it switched over later this year. I believe for older cars you can get a waiver of some sort if you can't get the emissions to pass after a couple of trys. I'll see what I can find out.