Need Recommendations

In need of some recommendations. On my drivers side Bed-Panel ,it has some slight paint chipping. I’ve been wanting to get it painted to match the rest of the truck. When I finally took it to a shop, they quoted me at a whopping 1800 dollars. They said that the panel has to completely come off as a whole, get sanded down, and then get painted. I don’t really have the money to drop 1800 on something like that. Would a garage DIY come out cheaper? If so, what should I use and buy? I’m also wondering if I should just sand around the chipped area instead of just sanding the entire body panel.

Thank You.

 

Yeah, you're fine to mask off the area and do a spot job. No reason to do the whole panel.

Get the paint from an automotive shop that matches your paint code, spray cans are available. You'll want a primer, and clear coat as well.

 

Has that panel been painted before?

 

Not that I know of. The guy who had the truck before me never mentioned anything before. I just got this truck a couple months ago.

 

I ask because that looks more like a paint adhesion issue and if you just paint over bad paint the issue will just come back.

 

Sand it, paint it the put some retro Toyota decals over it to hide the mid panel "repair" and expected blemishes. There is no way that you will blend it perfectly without redoing the entire panel but the stickers could cover up the vast majority of the repair and people would never know.

 

Do it right and have a pro do it. Rattle cans and little experience will look like complete garbage. Get a few estimates, look at their work and again do it correct the first time.

 

White duct tape. Okay, bad joke. But, @ACEkraut idea isn't the worst budget friendly idea I've ever heard.

 

They're not totally lying to you. To truly do the job right - because this is an adhesion issue - they really need to remove the bed side or at least the top rail and flare. To do that they need to remove the cap. See where this gets expensive? That said, you might want to ask the shop how much it would cost to do the repair by masking around the top rail and flare.

Could you rattle can a repair? Yes. Would it look good? Honestly, almost zero chance of that. And remember, since this is an adhesion problem. If you just paint the area currently peeling, more will peel off around it sooner or later.

In short, if you really care about what your truck looks like and is worth in resale value, get a shop to do it. (You might want to get another quote though.) If you don't care and are planning on running the truck into the ground, start shaking cans.