Auto body repair & detailing: Lesser of 2 evils?, acrylic urethane, polyeurethane

Question
Mr. forester shot down my recent Idea of painting with aerosol.  In my defense I may be on a budget but am not so ridiculous as to spend what's left of my 401K only to fail miserably trying to paint a masterpeice on my first outing as I have read about numerous times on this bulletin.  But I appreciate that he humored my amateur question.  So the question is this:  Who would u go with?  A friend of a friend who has 14 yrs previous autobody/paint experience but currently drives truck and works in his shop doing side jobs using an "air-dry" paint? (maybe a PPG productd) or the ol maaco signature with polyeurethane and a oven?

Answer
Hi Ross,

In my opinion, I would use Maaco, but I do have strong reservations against using them.  What I have seen with the Maaco type work is that they use an inferior product and under-experience help to paint cars cheap. I would talk with the "F of F" painter and see if he only uses "air dry" products.

If he can do a base/clear paint job or even Acrylic Urethane I would go with the "F of F" painter provide he hasn't been out of the business for 15 years. I would want to see recent work and question him about the materials he used to do those jobs.

To be honest, I would rather use the "F of F" painter but not if he only uses air dry products. Air dry products just don't have the durability needed.