Earl Schieb/Maaco

I'd paint it myself before I took it to one of those places. It's simple math - with their overhead, benefits, labor cost, etc. they're not going to put any more than maybe 6-10 hours worth of work into a $500 paint job.

You get what you pay for - especially in paint and body. And $500 paint jobs look like $500 paint jobs. You'll see overspray due to poor masking, orange peel, and poor preparation that won't show up until weeks/months after the job. I strongly suggest you save more money and pay a professional to do a better job.

Also, the real key to a good job has more to do with preparation than anything else. Any paint shop worth their salt won't let someone else prep the car. So I wouldn't begin to think I could sand and prep, and then just pay someone to paint it - not if I wanted a decent job. Sorry - just how I see things.