Body work recommendations
 

I purchased a 2000 SiR and mechanically it's great but the body is definitely showing its age. There are a few small surface rust spots on the hood (assuming from rock chips) and lots of dings and scratches (black car). Is there a place that could repair all the above and provide a well needed detail?

TIA!

surface rust can be sanded out and painted over. As long as you dont have a actual hole from rust, most body shop that does repaint can sand your surface rust down and fix it. However repaint is recommended, rolling around in primer is just asking for it to be rusted again

Wouldn't repainting all those panels cost almost 33% of the cars value.

yes it would. no shop will take the time to colour match a million paint chips. the Labor on that would not be any cheaper than a complete re spray.

OP could consider diying the repair.

Depends on whether OP really wants to keep the car for a long time. These generation of civic are not really that rare yet tbh.

i'm more interested in getting the surface rust spots fixed and getting a good detail in to remove swirls and minor scratches. I can't DIY as I don't have any of the tools/materials required.
I'm not sure how fast the surface rust will spread, so it's more of a preventative issue.

got pics?

get a carbon fibre hood, go to a dent shop, get the car polished out and see how much you can save rather than respray?

or vinyl wrap it...

vinyl wrapping car with rust is a really bad idea. if the chip is to the point of bare metal, you would literally be able to see the imprint of the chip thru the wrap. Then you have the possibility of traping in more moisture. Lastly, when you finally do pull the vinyl (and you will have to, unlike paint vinyl is a temporal solution) off there is a high chance that a part of the paint around the rust chip spot will come out along with the wrap...

Vinyl is really only supposed to be done on good to new condition paint.

go to a good detailer and have him fix it up as best as he could, touch up any new chip immediately when you see it. the only permanent fix is really a respray.

he said the rust spots were in the hood, which is why i suggested just getting a carbon hood instead and not worry about it again.

I'd just get a carbon hood or find an used black hood on Craigslist/junkyard. It'll cost at least $500 to redo the hood.

For the door dings, just go to a paintless dent guy. As for the swirls, you could buy a DA and compound/pads for about $250 and do it yourself. Polishing Honda paint is super easy, you'll rarely mess it up.