Are even the best Maaco paint jobs crap?

Post by **Tarheelgeek** » Wed Jan 23, 2008 1:35 pm

I know the $199 paint jobs are, but are the $1300 ones good when compared to a non-franchised body shop?

I know you usually get what you pay for, but am I going to really be able to tell the difference from Maaco's $1300 job to others $3000 job?

Post by **240FeVeR** » Wed Jan 23, 2008 1:45 pm

First of all, Maaco is a rip off. They'll take you're $1300 and give you a cheaper job and you won't know the difference. If you happen to find an honest one, the person doing the painting....do you trust the maaco guy over a guy in a private paint shop? I trust someone with experience to do my job, thats why you have to research paint shops, see how long they've been in business and how long their painter has been there etc etc. These guys are in a rush to get your car out of there and will skip steps and make mistakes.

Now as for the overall finish, it'll still suck compared to a paint job from a private party.

If i was to get a cheap paint job, i would rather do it somewhere other than maaco, im sure it would come out better.

Post by **StricNyne** » Wed Jan 23, 2008 2:07 pm

i have some quality maaco work, BUT only when proper prep was done from someone else

Post by **kanecain** » Wed Jan 23, 2008 2:22 pm

All Maaco shops in my area were closed...

Post by **keith0486** » Wed Jan 23, 2008 2:23 pm

i would goto a body shop over maaco any day they are not rushed as much to get cars done in a day and alot of the time if you talk to get painter and try and tell them what your looking for they will try and get your car as close to what you said as they can thats if they guy is in to cars as much as we are on here.

Post by **danielekfuj** » Wed Jan 23, 2008 2:30 pm

I had the max done at a body shop. I'd say it turned out pretty good. However, the Sonata was also done by a different body shop and doenst look too good, has overspray on tire, plastic molding..

Post by **penpen-commander** » Wed Jan 23, 2008 2:34 pm

240FeVeR wrote:
If i was to get a cheap paint job, i would rather do it somewhere other than maaco, im sure it would come out better.

yeah, do it myself.

maaco sucks.they spray over you panels with it still on your car.

Post by **morbid** » Wed Jan 23, 2008 2:36 pm

i've heard the cheap macco jobs are good when you do all the prep work yourself...... there was a whole thread of people with macco paintjobs on honda tech i think

Post by **240FeVeR** » Wed Jan 23, 2008 2:45 pm

You guys need to keep in mind not all maacos are the same. So what if one or two people had good experiences? Chances are you don't live in the same state they do and the one near you sucks. Maaco just has a mostly bad reputation, and rightfully so.

I once had a car that was involved in an accident and I replaced the front end with doner parts from another car. Long story short, Maaco painted it..it had paint runs, huge fish eye and wasn't dried properly when I was asked to come pick it up. You could press your finger in the paint and leave a fingerprint. They said it would be okay. This was about 8 years ago and thankfully I'm not as young and nieve as I used to be.

Post by **silverkaturbo** » Wed Jan 23, 2008 2:51 pm

I've heard stories from my instructors at collision rapair school of them seeing maaco painters being able to kick mud off the fenders of a car while it was sitting in the paintbooth. But then if your willing to do all the prep work on it first, you might as well just finish the job and shoot some paint on it yourself since all the hard work would already be over with.

Post by **AE240SX** » Wed Jan 23, 2008 3:03 pm

I noticed your in lakeland, a really good body shop in O-town is Brennan Body Works #407-295-6642. You get what ya pay for and if your looking to spend money do it there because there work is the best in town. I've personally seen their work.

Post by **splintercell** » Wed Jan 23, 2008 3:27 pm

ive seen maaco paint jobs here in fredericksburg, VA that are impressive. they look like a 4k paint job. i think some shops take more pride in their work than others. they have bee highly recommended around this area

Post by **silpena** » Wed Jan 23, 2008 4:15 pm

look at this way... macco doesn't giv a damn about the prep or how the car came in. They're main goal is to just spray it and get it out, Hence cheap prices. If you prep the car perfectly then ur chances are better also remove the moldings urself. Macco will still give u a ****ty paint job just not as bad. I can't think of any "real" painter who takes pride in their work, let themselves paint there. What they paint represents them in auto body industry in the area.

Post by **hud_240coupe** » Wed Jan 23, 2008 5:12 pm

anyone know if they atleast do a decent job popping out dents/repairing rust spots??

Post by **silpena** » Wed Jan 23, 2008 5:34 pm

maybe if u pay them enough or go everyday to watch the progress. You have a better chance at the price by going to college or vocational school to do it for you.

Post by **roeinondubs** » Mon Mar 03, 2008 10:46 am

ok so ive had 4 maaco paint jobs done as of now, seeing how i jus took my s13 this mornig. first let me say prep is every thing!! weather u do it or u pay maaco to do it, yes they do prep and might i say its about half of what others charge in my area which is 75-80 a hr. ive had the cheapest to a 2500 job done and ima say they came out great! ive seen bad maaco jobs and i mean bad but u just have to do some looking. dont call, go there look at the cars they have in the parking lot! if they look like SH*t dont go there drive 10 or 15 mins to the next one. my car will be back on wed so ill post some pics! hope this helps

Post by **moulton712** » Mon Mar 03, 2008 11:54 am

honestly it doensn't matter where you go, find out more info about there work.

my brother found macco was the best place to go. we painted our shop car with the 1300 paint job. it came out awesome. gloss black even.

sometimes it's not the plcae you go to but the person doing your work.

Post by **LeMoine** » Mon Mar 03, 2008 11:56 am

got mine done for 300 bucks was the presidential or what ever the way they sprayed the car was good but the messed a couple of things up wich i made them fix before i paid them but I would say if your going to take it to them do the prep work and try and take as many pieces off that you dont want the paint to look ****ty around like on my doors around the weather stripping they did a terrible job masking it off and u can still see alittle bit of the old job but for 300 bucks i cant complain heres a pic

Post by **k00laid83** » Mon Mar 03, 2008 12:07 pm

yep i hear a lot of bad things but thats just word of mouth around here! but me personally im glad i know how to paint...im so happy i took bodyshop in high school...i was good! and im not trying to sound cocky...because they even sent me to a competition in vegas called VICA! and i placed 4th in state so not bad ey lol.....but i would recomend you doing all the work and shooting it yourself!! its not hard just dont paint your car like if you were you using a spray can!!! and even if you get orange peel you can wet sand it later and buff most of it out. seriously though just do it yourself and shoot it wet!

Post by **brizanden** » Mon Mar 03, 2008 12:07 pm

yeah be prepared to have them just mask and spray take your license plates off for god sakes or your gonna have a surprise one day when you do take it off. Also i have know people that got their undercarriage sprayed and their exhaust. Me and my dad find macco paint jobs as funny as going through the mcdonalds drive thru and when they ask, "would you like a mc(fill in food item here)". say, " a mcno" in response. Now thts some funny sheet

Post by **RCG_Savage** » Mon Mar 03, 2008 1:16 pm

Maaco jobs are crap. My friends 300zx had one paint was chipping in so many areas. You can tell they do a rush job on it.

Post by **sweets13** » Mon Mar 03, 2008 1:34 pm

moulton712 wrote:honestly it doensn't matter where you go, find out more info about there work.

my brother found macco was the best place to go. we painted our shop car with the 1300 paint job. it came out awesome. gloss black even.

sometimes it's not the plcae you go to but the person doing your work.

My car was done at maaco and it came out damn nice! The reason why is because they had a really good sprayer there at the time, plus did the prep myself

Post by **White Comet** » Mon Mar 03, 2008 2:48 pm

i would never take it to the one near me. a friend went there and they painted right over a leaf on the hood

Post by **Acumo** » Mon Mar 03, 2008 3:04 pm

lol ^ lies

Post by **ryan15** » Mon Mar 03, 2008 3:04 pm

Ive seen two good jobs for the money come out of maaco, one of the instances my friend knew the painter and was friends with him, his car looked pretty good for the 350 that he spent. The other instance was my friend who got his car sprayed, he took off all the moldings etc. Then the last experiance was bad, my last s13 I bought had a black maaco paint job, it was horrible, chiped and flaked everywhere shortly after I got the car, it looked like they painted it in a sandstorm, and yes take off your license plate or they will do a hack mask job, get hella over spray on the thing, and you will have a red mark behind it.

All in all, I dont care... I painted cars for 2 yrs at a high end body shop, so I know what im doing... and man am I glad.

Peace.

Post by **White Comet** » Mon Mar 03, 2008 3:08 pm

Acumo wrote:lol ^ lies

it is lol'able but not a lie, my friend with a black mr2 went through a fence had it painted by them. we noticed a bumped up spot on the hood, turned out it was a small leaf

Post by **white90esex** » Mon Mar 03, 2008 4:38 pm

I have seen a decent macco job before. My friends mom took here beater buick there and it came out great actually. Its odd but it came out good.

I would prep it and mask as much as you can yourself. Then let them do the rest.... well thats if you know what you're doing.

If you can avoid them I would. Thats really the bottom line.

Post by **YOUNG240SX** » Mon Mar 03, 2008 5:32 pm

Wow my mom tellin me to ask my car to maaco for a respray,I told her no.they might spray my top thinking its a coupe...lol

Post by **brizanden** » Mon Mar 03, 2008 5:56 pm

i sadly think they would

Post by **GPJONES** » Mon Sep 24, 2012 9:02 pm

Maaco Lake Forest Cal. OUTSTANDING I read a lot of reviews on the internet in search of an inexpensive paint job for my 12 year-old Dodge Dakota that I had left out in the elements its entire life. The paint was in such bad shape that it was actually peeling and cracked down to the metal. I mostly read poor reviews for other Maaco franchises but the one in Lake Forest got a number of good reviews. Turns out that all Maaco paint and body shops do not turn out the same quality of work. I was on a budget and didn’t want to spend $3000 to $3600, which I was quoted at other body shops, on and old “Junker” truck. Not expecting too much I brought the truck to Peter & Miguel at Maaco in Lake Forest. (Oh did I mention that I wanted to change the color from a lousy dark blue to an “Alpine” white?) Well Peter, Miguel and their crew FAR EXCEEDED MY EXPECTIONS. I was blown away when I got my truck back. It looked brand new! They pulled the bed away from the cab and painted the space in between. They sanded, prepped and primed the rest of the truck prior to shooting and the finished job had not a hint of orange peel and no runs anywhere. They even painted the door jambs. Let me say the paint came out smooth as silk and would be hard to tell from an original factory paint job. Now, let me state: I am not being paid or compensated in any way for writing this review. In fact I don’t know if Peter and Miguel even know I’m writing it. I just think someone who performs a great service at a more than fair price should get a good review. (Lord knows that there are too many people out there that don’t want to pay for decent job and than are quick to write a bad review.) So, to say that I’m happy with their work would be an understatement. And I would whole heartedly recommend this franchise to my friends and relatives. BTW the whole thing including some extras I wanted came to $1,406 OTD. That turns out to be $2,094 that a didn’t have to spend. LOVE IT!
Dr. Gary Jones

Are even the best Maaco paint jobs crap?

Are even the best Maaco paint jobs crap?

Re: Are even the best Maaco paint jobs crap? (Tarheelgeek)

Re: Are even the best Maaco paint jobs crap? (Tarheelgeek)

Re: (StricNyne)

Re: (keith0486)

Re: Are even the best Maaco paint jobs crap? (240FeVeR)

Re: (morbid)

Re: (morbid)

Re: Are even the best Maaco paint jobs crap? (Tarheelgeek)

Re: Are even the best Maaco paint jobs crap? (AE240SX)

Re: Are even the best Maaco paint jobs crap? (splintercell)

Re: (hud_240coupe)

Re: Are even the best Maaco paint jobs crap? (Tarheelgeek)

Re: Are even the best Maaco paint jobs crap? (Tarheelgeek)

Re: Are even the best Maaco paint jobs crap? (roeinondubs)

Re: Are even the best Maaco paint jobs crap? (LeMoine)

Re: Are even the best Maaco paint jobs crap? (LeMoine)

Re: Are even the best Maaco paint jobs crap? (moulton712)

Re: Are even the best Maaco paint jobs crap? (sweets13)

Re: Are even the best Maaco paint jobs crap? (White Comet)

Re: Are even the best Maaco paint jobs crap? (White Comet)

Re: Are even the best Maaco paint jobs crap? (Acumo)

Re: Are even the best Maaco paint jobs crap? (White Comet)

Re: Are even the best Maaco paint jobs crap? (White Comet)

Re: Are even the best Maaco paint jobs crap? (YOUNG240SX)

Re: Are even the best Maaco paint jobs crap?

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