What's the best way to paint a car?

I have a 2001 Impala and I'm thinking about 'fixing it up' or leasing a new car in a few months. If I get it painted, I'm gonna keep it through university which will be another 2 and a half years. Its tan and I don't mind keepin it tan if the paint job will be cheaper or easier. Over 10 years, the paint probably is faded and even though there are only some scratches, chips and 1 bad spot, I'm not sure if it can be spot treated. But let me know ya'lls opinions. Also, how much do ya'll think it'll cost?What's the best way to paint a car?
Auto body painting is tedious and very time consuming. And if you want the absolute best paint job done to your car, then you should have the entire body stripped of its current paint and treat the bare metal so it doesn't start oxidizing. Then you need to weld, grind, hammer, and shape any damage, imperfection, and any bad spot in the body as necessary, then apply body filler to the car and sand, sand, sand. Start with coarse 60 grit aluminum oxide sandpaper, then medium (i forget the grit), then fine 150 grit. Then apply more body filler and sand as necessary till the body feels as smooth and as perfectly contoured as you can get it. Then wet-sand the body with wet-dry sandpaper dipped in water. Let the body dry, then blow off all remaining dust on the car. THEN, you can prime and paint the car. Now depending on how extensive u wanna go with the body prep and the brand of paint you use... could run u up in the quad digits as far as the bill goes.