How do you find a respectable body shop?, And... What color is my car? Options

[supaneko]

My Celica is a "purple-blue." A little stumped though as far as what the color is actually called.


[Not my car but the color is the same!] Could someone let me know what color this?

That leads me to my next question: When looking for a place to get your car painted, what do you look for?

I am located in Metro-Detroit, Michigan. When I bought the car, I didn't realize at first that it was "two-tone." The driver's side is a lighter blue (seems like the driver's side was involved in a collision) than the rest of the car. Because of this, I want to get the thing painted. It does have a few nicks here 'n there and I figured that when I got the car painted, I could have those taken care of as well.

I am just not sure where to take it to. I know I don't want to take it to Maaco. I am also a little curious as to what good pricing is for having some minimal body work and a full paint job performed.

I have also heard that having it painted white is cheaper than normal paint (no one ever told me why so I don't know how true this is). If I wanted to keep the car the same color, would it cost any less?

This post has been edited by supaneko: Aug 31, 2008 - 11:05 AM

[95CelicaST]

Looks like your car is "Bright Iris Pearl". The paint code is "8K9". http://www.6gc.net/forums/index.php?act=ST...f=6&t=11604

As for a respectable body shop, you would have to get information from others in the area that have had work done, or have had their car painted, etc. And if you're looking for a full color change (under the hood, door jams, under the hatch, etc) it's going to cost you. Don't cheap out on paint. The cheaper it is, the poorer the quality (not saying all of the time, but a good portion of the time).

And people say white/black is cheap because it's a one stage color. There is no metallic or pearl involved with your basic white or black.