Hmm... to me that looks like that could be mean nasty(but to clarify... I'm seeing little white streaks all lover the quarter. Is that just light playing with me or does the whole quarter panel look like it's about to rupture?).
Either way, I'd be suprised if paint alone was under $400. You should be blending into the hatch, you obviousely have the door, they probably would be nice to you and not make you go into the fender though. Now, that means that they will have to take at minimum from what I'm seeing the door apart and the bumper/taillights off. The door and fender will be getting color. The whole door and quarter will get clear-coated(they will probably burn the clearn in on the post. If they do blend into the hatch they will probably only clear-coat part of it and burn in at strategic points. Now, what is burning in and why do they only do it sometimes? It is when they blend new clear coat into the old clear coat and they usually only do this on pillars. This is because a burn in is actually somewhat noticeable in that it has somewhat of a hazy glow on it which usually isn't that bad... unless you try to burn in on a highly noticeable spot that's in the middle of the panel.
I have some good news for you though, it looks like you could get away with doing the body-work yourself. The best way to fix it would probably be to grind away everything and straighten it out better, BUT; it appears your door gapsa are even so you could just grind everything done and put on new filler.
Now, remember that you can screw this up easily...
1)Use a grinder to take off the paint, for good adhesion to the metal filler likes and 80 grit sand mark(you see... you're current problem is probably due to insufficient prep)
2)Feather-edge where you stop grind with 120 grit(I use a D.A., but I'm guessing you don't have that and that would be $300 so you will have to do it by hand
3) Wash the surface with a cleaner(our shop uses foamy window cleaner but I would play it safe and just use water since I don't know the brand and know that some things don't play well with filler. Filler does aborb liquid you know?
4) Use quality filler such as Evercoat(available from the local auto paint shop most likely. I'm looking at prices for it and through Eastwood (
http://www.eastwood.com ) it's $40 for their Rage Xtreme line.
5) This may seem basic but you'd be surprised. The mixing board you use does make a difference! Don't use cardboard since some may be treated with chemicals that will hurt the filler. You will want to either use plastic, glass, stainless steel, or specially designed quick mix paper boards. Remember to get proper spreaders while you're getting the bondo, they're only $5 or so for a pack.
6) When mixing their is a better way to do it, but I can't think of how to describe it. Basically, make sure that their are no streaks because filler with no hardener does, in fact, never harden. Also remember to squeaze out in circles and then squeaze a line of hardener down the middle to get close to the right ratio(luckily filler's not to picky, most you just get more or less work time depending on how you mix it.
7) Apply filler with spreaders(yeah.. that's easy to get...). Now, applying thin coats will yield better results(less pin-holes and such), but you can blob it on their pretty think with no real issues. At the very least your first coat should be thin because you need to apply some pressure to squeaze it into the scratches. Don't get filler in the jams, or else you might have to sand them. You don't want the paint shop to charge you for jamming your car I assume...
To clean your spreader you will want solvent which is also probably available from the paint shop(funny thing is I have never had to buy it. School bought it for me while I was in class and now the body shop buys it so I can't really give you an estimate on price).
8)you will probably want to sanding blocks, one should be a six inch and the other one a 12 inch. Start sanding your work with 80 grit sandpaper. When everything seem even start with 120. you may have to re-apply filler several or more times, don't feel bad. Getting things flat is an aquired talent that, honestly; many body-men can't get perfect either.
9) When everything's done you should blow air onto the filler (I use 90 PSI from an air hose but I don't know what you would do). Anyway, your pinholes will start showing up and you should fix those because the painter will like you a whole lot better.
10) Everything straight? Everything feather-edged? Bring it to a paint shop and ask them how much they'd want for a paint job and to check over your body-work. Now, $400 still would seem cheap for a paint job(unless it's Macco
) but it should be a lot cheaper that what it would be for the shop to fix all that work
Now, I'm sure I'm forgetting something. I'm also sure that I've got a lot of typos in this post but I've got to do something and will edit it later. Sorry!
I want my panel pretty again...
uhh... that's weird.
