Prep for paint???? Pics of notches...

If your going to have a shop do the work for you its usually cheaper to do your own prep work. Take off all the trim, the headlights, taillights, bumpers and if you want the underhood area painted nice, take out the engine and all the wiring. Couple other guys have done that. Talk to the shop thats going to do it if they are ok with you masking off your own car, some might want to do it themselves so they don't get complaints of overspray. You could do you own body work too, but it depends on how much you want to do before you give it to the shop. Might be better to let them handle that.

I got an estimate from a local body shop that comes highly recommended. I have some minor damage to my passenger door and rear quarter panel. I also have the typical dings and chips, so I had them quote out the entire car. Grand total was just over $2000, guaranteed to look like a brand new car. I've actually seen their work, so I'm not worried about a Maaco job. (No offense to any Maaco employees out there). This price included all labor....