The big auto paint manufacturers such as DuPont (now Axalta), PPG, BASF and Sherwin Williams typically offer different paint lines at different price points. The upper end paints are in the YGTBSM price category. Realize too, different colors are more expensive than others.
There are also smaller paint manufacturers that sell much cheaper paints and the Internet is full of people and Internet posts who swear by those paints. In this case I’m talking about names like Kirker, Southern Polyurethanes, Tamco, Eastwood and Summit, but there are many more. Several years ago I had a K5 Blazer painted by a fellow who does very high end muscle car paint jobs, and I asked him to use Southern Polyurethanes paint. He did, and when all was said and done, he was decidedly unimpressed with the paint.
Since then I’ve been buying Sherwin Williams automotive paint, and using their Sunfire Pro line. I’ve been very pleased with the outcome, and the price has been reasonable. But a big factor is the customer service from the representative, who is just incredible.
A debate is whether to go single stage or base-clear. I used to be a single stage guy, but my Sherwin Williams contact, who has been awesome to work with, has made me a believer in base-clear.
VOCs, or Volatile Organic Compounds are a big deal and 2.8 VOC is a threshold number. I think California, as well as a number of other metropolitan areas, require paint at less than 2.8, whereas “National Rule” areas do not have that requirement. Most paint sprays better when it’s thinned, and adding thinner boosts the VOC number. So “officially” paint manufacturers are conservative in their thinning recommendations to meet the VOC requirements. However, once you own the paint you are doing the mixing and spraying. My personal philosophy is to use what works best….
