Maaco.....id like new paint

[Qxxx4]

are they reupteable or should I not bring my q there...I wouldnt mind a paint touchup on the front end, but their saying on their site that they do the whole car for a little over $1000 for their highest quality service...

I know you get what you pay for, but I have alot of scratches and scrapes and rust starting on the fender...if $1000 gives me a decent looking paintjob with no chips/scrapes/scratches for a while, i dont mind even if I have to redo it in 3-4 years....

Do they offer warranty? Im thinking of hitting this and a body shop tommorow to get an estimate

also, changing the colour...Possible? more $$? i know the door seams and stuff will be black, i dont care the things 10 years old, I just want to get rid of all the S**T the previous owner did to it, especially my hood.

Then I want to 3M the front and do a super wax job so i have mint paint for at least 2 years lol

[Turbogst]

A friend of mine went there for a color change.. 3 weeks later we were at the car wash the power washer there took the paint off.... prep is the main thing you need to be worried about... he went back got it done again this one last about 6 months before it started to flake off..

[Lars]

Like Turbo said, paint prep is the key. With poor prep, it doesn't matter how expensive your paint job is... it'll suck. In my experience Maaco can do a good job if you prep the car yourself, or pay someone else to prep it. As for a color change, I've seen some good ones (really expensive) and a lot of bad ones (both cheap and expensive).

Here's what I'd suggest, go to Maaco and get an estimate. Then go to a 'real' bodyshop and get another estimate, or go to a few. Talk to them about how they do their prep, their warranty, and how often they do color changes. I think you'll find a big difference in the answers you get...

[exvin]

I took my accord to the Etibicoke location to get the entire thing repainted - cost me.....$1500.00 FOR THE ENTIRE CAR!!!

Everywhere else quoted me at least 3500 to 5000 grand. The job was done in less than a week but this is what they do.

The only sand it down till the primer, they do not actually strip it for you. I asked how they do it and thats what they told me. Then they dont put on any more primer and they only do a single stage layer of paint.

Now mind you, I didnt find they did a bad job and the car looked awesome with the new paint and all but here is what happened.

So a few months after in the winter someone hit me, so my insurance handled the repair. The shop called me and asked if I had the car repainted (which they knew nothing about), I told them yes. I asked why, then they tell me that the color of the paint in the outside DOES NOT MATCH THE INSIDE - like the frame and stuff

The guy from the insurance repair shop, which I knew had a great rep with the neighborhood tuner boys (hence why I took it there) said that the color thats on the label inside the car, you know the one near the B pillar (I think) is not the same color as the rest of the outside..I was WTF - I told Macco I wanted the car the same stock color and thats what they told me they did and to tell you the truth, it did look the same. So the shop had to use some kinda machine to actually get the exact color match as outside.

What the shop guy told me was that there are different layers of paint that you have to lay down properly when repainting an entire car- Primer - first layer - second. They said what Maaco does is that they only use one layer, hence why the color was different

But in the end the shop matched it up nicely, without me paying and going through insurance (since I was not at fault)

I say go price them out and get other quotes from other shops, you will be see there are probably one of the cheapest but not necessarily the best jobs out there.

Just my 2 schillings

[exvin]

[QUOTE=Lars]Like Turbo said, paint prep is the key. With poor prep, it doesn't matter how expensive your paint job is... it'll suck. In my experience Maaco can do a good job if you prep the car yourself, or pay someone else to prep it.QUOTE]

If you are going to deal with Maaco, pay special attention to this!!

Honestly, go to Maaco if you are on a tight budget

I found their staff reminded me of well trained sales guys who try to get you to buy their product lol..

[bmlawless]

I took my 1991 Corsica with peeling paint in for the $199 job. I paid for 2 extra hours of sanding because there was some rust starting. They told me that the paint job was normally only warranteed for a year, but I wouldn't have any warranty on this because of the peeling paint.

3 years later it still looked good. After about 5 years, it started fading quickly and looked like crap after 6. I only paid $300 for the car so I didn't give a crap. I need to paint my fenders and bumper and if I ever get around to it, Maaco will get the job.

As for the color change, I wouldn't do it. You'll pay more for the extra paint and the car will look funny when you open the doors. If you want a change, put a pearl coat or a 2-tone paint job on it.

[fueler]

like everyone said, prep is clutch. you should sand your s*** yourself, take off whatever trims you can, take out all the lights, and just tow it to the paint shop. Tip the painter beforehand for extra care

[AJRK]

Your car looks better now than it would with a Maaco paint job. Save your money, or get it done right.... or buy a 2001

[Kompresshun]

Yeah like everyone else said, prep it before you take it to them if you want it to last and look good. I sanded down my first truck(89 Ford Ranger) myself, pulled out dents, hit it with some bondo, then primed it with 2k Urethane primer, and sanded again. I drove it there, took off all the trim and anything I didn't want painted in the parking lot and let them have at it. I bought their $500 paint job(color change as well) and it looked great when it was done. It still looked new when I sold it 2 years later.

Here's a couple of pics:

[Turbogst]

I spent 6k on my old eclipse.. change from white to royal sapphire blue pearl (97toyota supra limited color) This was a show quality paint job , windows all moldings were taken out.

[Qxxx4]

thanks for the tip guys, my paints in good shape aside from the scrapes on rear fenders from previous owner, rusting rear hatch that i covered up for now until i find an 01+ hatch, and the front end has rust starting on fender along with little chips everywhere on the hood.

i think ill just go to a good body shop and get the hood, fender and rear fenders redone and get a bug deflector for it.

[QX4dahuneys]

QXXX4, here's something that could help you with the chips on your hood or other scratches around your truck's body. I checked out this idea from the accord forum that I participate in. You might want to check it out. Looks like it gives pretty good results.

http://www.drcolorchip.com/

[miamiheat3332]

hmm im interested in that drcolour chip thingy, cause my bumper has alot of chips, but anyone ever used it before?

[W O T]

Theres a maaco in milton and 2 of my friends got there cars painted there, one civic got the single stage paintjob where the mix the clear and paint together, it was like $300 and he did the body work himself, came out looking good for cheap paint, he just painted it to sell it. Definitely worked in his favour but I dunno about the reliability cause like I said he sold it.

My other friend got there expensive paint job on his dc2 integra, it was like just short of $1k and he got it painted the factory silver. Thing came out MINT, mind you I helped him do the body work and we removed the headlights/taillights and any trim that popped off. But there was no runs and the paint was smooth, matched the factory paint in the jams pretty much perfect. Hes had it through 2 winters and this is the 3rd summer and it still looks great, no peeling or fading or easy rock damage.

I plan on getting my car painted at the same location as I now know one of the workers there and can probly get a semi deal or atleast slip him some side cash for extra care and clear coat layers so I can do some wetsanding. I plan on just getting my Qx4 painted black again though, as my paint is pretty fubarred

Ive give it a shot man, you can even go with a 2 tone..... copper upper half, black lower.....

[Turbogst]

I asked some fellow detailiers about the "dr chip thing" it has mixed reviews some think its ok others don't like it at all.. most said 2 feet away you cant really seem them. When you get up on the car "HELLO"... Go to a dealership and see who they use to do there touch ups, I would go to a higher end dealership.. think about it even certified cars with 30k seem to have flawless paint.. they air brush and take the excess off with acetone

Our old g35 had this done cost me 100 bucks for the whole front end and came out looking awesome

[W O T]

A hundred bucks at a dealership is gonna last about 15 minutes

[Turbogst]

Were talking rock chips and scratches... and it has lasted still to this day as my brothers wife owns the car now, its been 3 years. he is not getting the front bumper painted he is filling the defects. And yes i paid 100 bucks, same guy has even touched up a ding on my zo6..

The dealership does not do there own touch up.. they have guys for this, they also fix leather rips and cracks in dashes and what not.

Just like when a few high end cars come in and look pretty bad.. They call me, even when they have there own detailiers.. there not trained in what I do.

Go to the dealership and ASK who does there paint touch ups.

[Qxxx4]

I asked some fellow detailiers about the "dr chip thing" it has mixed reviews some think its ok others don't like it at all.. most said 2 feet away you cant really seem them. When you get up on the car "HELLO"... Go to a dealership and see who they use to do there touch ups, I would go to a higher end dealership.. think about it even certified cars with 30k seem to have flawless paint.. they air brush and take the excess off with acetone

Our old g35 had this done cost me 100 bucks for the whole front end and came out looking awesome

the front end is whats concerned me and its all small scratches/chips from rocks. no large chips....i think a "touch" up is whats needed and this airbrush/acetone sounds like itd be right for me. Mind you my fender has a bubbling/rust spot on a corner so I want that fixed up, so once they repaint my fender might as well do the hood. I think ill just go to a good shop and just do the front end for <$1k