I paid about $23 per can. It was a little expensive but I didn't want to have to deal with a paint gun and compressor. I've got access to everything to spray automotive paint, but I lack the experience in spraying so I turned to my tried and true rattle cans.
Hey Slick, I've been real hesitant to speak up in anyone's thread these days, much less a paint subject, so I apologize in advance if I once again make someone angry. I am not a novice painter.
I underwent some painful medical stuff earlier in the year, (still am) and my wife backed her car into the garage door opening, with the rear car door open. In so doing, she bent up the hinges. I ordered some used hinges, stripped them, etc. and not wanting to deal with my paint gun and required clean up for such a small project, opted for the custom spray can route.
I'm pretty sure my local Car Quest does not offer the aerosol filling option, so I ordered it from one of the many Ebay vendors who now sell this, and by the way, they also sell urethane coatings which also do not require a top coat- in a rattle can. So you are not stuck with just acrylic enamel.
The rattle can paint option I received did not have the same amount of catalyst in it that the mixed versions do. Since you said Car Quest, let's assume we're talking about Nason (Altaxa) "Ful Cryl" which is their Acrylic Enamel and mixed with an 8-2-1 ratio, with "1" being the catalyst.
A mixed batch of that will last about three days in a sealed container, depending on the temperature.
The custom batch of Acrylic Enamel I ordered off of Ebay has lasted over five months in the can. The application yielded results far inferior to what I do with a gun, and the finish is not even close.
It is definitely an alternative to application of paint when a can of Ace-brand paint just wont cut it, but I was not impressed with the finish. In my experience, there is no valid comparison between the final outcomes between that rattle can and a paint gun with properly mixed coating.