That's a tough question. Some of it is based on what you want to spend.

My favorite, and probably also the best solution, is to repaint the whole car with a basecoat/clearcoat. But that depends on the color of the car. Some of Volvo's colors are single-stage formulas. All the metallics are basecoat/clearcoat (after sometime in the early or mid eighties, I think).

DuPont's ChromaBase system gives a really nice finish. You can finish it with a choice of clearcoats, but the base really gives a nice deep luster when it's finished properly. There are others available as well. It depends on the paint shop.

If economy is the primary concern, Maaco's paintjobs do hold up for a while, but that also depends on the location you choose. It's a franchise, so each one differs.

While it might be nice to spray the affected panels, you'll spend a lot of money for the paint match, and then they'll have to blend the paint and clearcoat so that it looks good with what's on there. You're almost better stretching to do the whole car.

One last recommendation is to do all the body prep yourself. Do the rust repair, any dent filling, etc. Use the proper body shop type supplies and be very careful about leaving grind marks because they'll show through with base/clear paint. Use sandable primer over ANY repair jobs you do. Then finish off with nonsandable primer. Always bondo (also don't use the bondo brand) and then glaze over the top since body filler is porous and will soak primer up. Maaco will charge for every prep minute they spend, so the more you do, the better off your wallet is. Ask them what you should do to make the finish last the best.

If you take a little time to do the prep of the areas you want to fix, you will be happy even if you just have Maaco shoot the car for you, for a few hundred bucks. Think of how nice it will look. The best part is, the paintjob should last for a bunch of years if you keep it waxed.

Add a nice pinstripe to finish it off, and the end result is really nice... even with Maaco paint.
--
Chris Herbst
1992 745, 68k

And others:
93 944, 150k
90 245, 110k
88 744, 160k
87 245, 185k