[onewhippedpuppy]

Originally Posted by kaisen

I'd touch up the rock chips on the metal panels and repaint the plastic front bumper. Once the chips are colored properly, apply a clear 3M bra.

Disturbing the factory finish is a bad idea. It will never match perfectly (trust me), there's the possibility (likelyhood?) that the factory rust protection would be compromised, and you'll always have to explain that the car was painted due to rock chips and not some horrific accident -- and only a few prospective buyers will believe you.

The wheels are easy. The dealer may get better rates than you, so it may be better to negotiate and have them do it. It's probably the same guy anyway, they don't do it in-house.

Spot on. If you repaint body panels you'll have to explain it, and because there's a lot of liars out there many buyers won't believe you. A good touch up could be a 90% solution that maintains/enhances the car's value without any stories. Of all things the average buyer is most concerned by past bodywork history, because they believe that bodywork = accident.

I would advocate taking care of these things yourself as you can manage the process. You can determine exactly what is done for touch up, you can shop around for your favorite body shop or wheel repair guy, you can change the wheel color if you like. You'll always be dealing with a 3rd party if the dealership is involved, and you might get better pricing if the dealer marks up these "services" that just get outsourced anyway. I very recently paid $450 to have four wheels totally refinished and one straightened, that included repairing curbing on all four and having the color changed.