painting

I have a black 2005 bfs convertible. After a few winter drives through the mountains I was sad to see many rock chips on the front body panels. To keep the car looking great I was told by many to bight the bullet and paint the whole car. It has 86000 k and runs like new.It has been looked after in every possible. I found the best shop to do the work. One that the local Porche dealer send their cars. The price that was quoted was fair even a little low as the owner of the shop was a fan of the brand. So the question is should the whole car get a lick of paint or just the paneling up to the rear quarter panels. Any thoughts guys

If you're going to go that far - I'd recommend doing the whole car...it won't cost you much more and you won't have to worry about the two paints aging differently.

That's only a question you can answer. Did you get both options quoted? That may help you decide. I believe that black paint has a tendency to show swirls much more than other colors - so if you go with a half spray you'll probably be able to see a difference if you're studying it. Check out the paint's current condition in harsh light from various angles and see if you can see swirling. A couple things to consider... getting a super smooth finish requires wet sanding and buffing after the painting is complete. This can be pretty labor intensive and adds to the cost. If your shop works with the Porsche dealer, I'd imagine he built this into the price but I'd verify. If he didn't - I'd look for another shop, as I would consider this mandatory when painting a Porsche. That being said - maybe you could have him respray the front and then go over the whole car with the buffer. That would probably give you the same result as a full respray. Maybe talk to the paint shop - as I guarantee he knows more about it than I do. The other thing to check out are the clear protective shields they make now. If my car was recently painted and flawless I'd definitely get one to protect it moving forward.