maaco paint job really that bad?

[240marcuSX]

my car looks like ****. gotta go cheap somewhere eh? so, maaco,

better get it?

or

no maaco?

i had plans to get a really nice paint job for like $1800, but that would take longer etc, etc. insert thoughts here |V

[Icepik240]

a friend of mine used macco for some collision repairs, he said they did a good job. Granted, it was a Hyundai.

I guess the adage applies: You get what you pay for.

My .02

[USCS14DUDE]

I had a maaco paint job on my previous car, an 86 mr2. I only paid 500 and thats with a little body work. The only thing is they don't take the time to tape everything out great so you will have some overspray, my side mirrors had black all over them. It looked great but after time it started to chip alittle on the front from various forms of debris hitting it. I believe it was baked on...no clearcoat. All in all it looked great from a distance but over time i don't think it would have lasted. If i hadn't been a poor student i would have gotten a higher quality one.

[Icepik240]

USCS14DUDE: You're right, they don't clearcoat. I looked at them briefly for some work on my S13 I had, and no paint package they offered included clearcoat, at least the one I went to in NC. I wonder if you did some of the detail work (like pulling lights, trim, etc. would give you better results?)

[SmithSR]

If you do a decent prep job, they can spray it and it'll be worth what you pay for. I like the idea of a place that'll spray a car for cheap.

You CAN get a decent paint job done, if you do the labor-intensive prep work yourself, and just have them spray it. I'd go so far as to strip the car down, do all sanding, priming, and taping, then have a buddy tow it on his trailer to the paint shop.

I've seen a couple really bad maaco paint jobs. You could see where sanding, bondo, and other work needed to be done, but wasn't done well. If you take the time & energy to do a good prep job, you'll no doubt like the end result. The opposite is also true. If you don't take care of the little details, they'll stick out like a sore thumb once you get the final paint on there.

[flyfishz]

Do your own prep and bring your own high quality paint. that will make a big difference

[240marcuSX]

where could i buy that kind/amount of paint??

smith - is there any link you can give me or something that shows some kind of diy prep work?

thanks for all the responses

[Dattebayo]

if you are gonna bring your own paint and prep it just paint it yourself, geez.I wouldnt worry about the paint quality that they have. just clear coat it yourself, and you wont have any problems.

[240marcuSX]

ha yeah. im not really a body work guy, i just get tired of my car looking like crap sitting on nice wheels and shiny brakes. just seeing what my options are

[SmithSR]

240marcus, check the phone book for paint supply stores. There should be a number of places locally that has everything you need for autobody work. The guys that work at automotive paint supply stores are usually the kind of people that have a working knowledge of the supplies they sell, so they can probably tell you exactly what you'll need, and maybe offer tips on how to get started..

DIY.net has some good pictures along with step by step info about basic paint and priming work.http://www.diynet.com/diy/ab_a....html

http://www.diynet.com/diy/ab_a....html

[240marcuSX]

thanks smith, youve been very helpful.

[teampro687]

I prepped my own car and took it to maaco to have them spray it. I found a coupon for half off winter special so it cost me $250. I would have sprayed it myself but I have no place to do it so this was the next best thing. The paint job came out pretty good except they didn't put any clear on it. Single stage. I guess I can't complain for $250. It's glossy and all one color so I guess it's better than it was.

[Chingon]

here in town they don't polish which just plain sux. The polishing is extra bucks.

[flyfishz]

Depending on your relationship with Mr Franklin You might want to go to a small private shop and ask what you can get done for a few Benjimans... No receipt... no tax just three freinds ... you, the paint shop owner and Benjiman... I have seen $4000 paint jobs done for a grand... The other thing you may want to do is catch the guys at a paint on their lunch break and ask what they would charge you to help you paint the car on a weekend... $250 for the help plus the paint... That is best way to get a good paint job done cheap... They will bring tools and a gun too! Maybe even know where they can rent a booth for the day

[kblast523]

Maaco repainted my 1991 Mazda factory color...well-almost. It was Metalic blue with various color body parts (from the collision with a Honda), and it came back all the same color. Different grain in the metalic, shade off just a bit, too silver. That was OK, everything now same color (oh, it didnt matter I had prepped the whole car, still cost $495 for two stage paint), they call it 'semi' clearcoat. At least it hasn't peeled. Car was subsequently damaged again, and now I can't find anyone BUT Maaco to paint it. Seems they (Maaco) mix their own paint, and it might be one color one week, another the next. Got front end repainted last August, and it came back rich, small grained different texture metalic blue, less silver, and then they charged EXTRA because they couldn't get their own paint to match! Only paint with them if you are planning a short relationship with your vehicle and want a cheap paint job.

[soon2besr20]

maaco is junk, my friend got one of their better packages and about 2 months after it was painted it started peeling off. He called them back and they repainted it, about three months after that paint job it started peeling again, so im definitly not impressed with their work

[Supafly]

ewwww, anything that uses integrated clear coat (clear is mixed with the color all in one gun) should be avoided. my miata was painted with a crappy maaco job and after the previous owner hadn't kept a large amount of wax on it it got very dull and looked like crap. i spent weeks with buffers/cleaner wax/clay bars/etc trying to make it shine again and the crap was all in the paint.

[el5y]

Maaco, in my opinion, is only real good for the basic colors without the metallics, and even then the lack of a clear coat hurts. The matched my brother's factory white pretty well but I'm not trusting them to do my metallic green. also, I paid them to do sanding etc but they didn't do it and I ended up getting a refund of approx $150 for that since all they did was paint over the filled in chips my brother and I had done before.

Eric