Whats your exp's with Maaco???

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The Maaco around here is actually pretty good. I've seen quite a few cars look pretty nice even a few years later. If you are worried about them no sanding it, do that yourself. They "paint" very well...they just lack on prep work sometimes (but the more you pay the better they will do it).
 
Sadly those few that looked good paid for it, probably dearly. However they probably spent nowhere near what I do from my painter. But if your going to get a Macco job talk to them about the prep. I bought a truck that was sprayed by them. They used laquer primer on the spots that got body work. 1 year later all the spots that go boddywork were primered. The only place the paint stuck was where they didn't primer, you wouldn't have known it when the guy picked up the truck, a year later I primered the whole truck so it matched, then sold it.
Keep in mind Warranty, prep and the door jambs yada ya. This is a mAcco job that the person that owned the car before me had sprayed, I'm almost too embarresed to open the doors and hood around people.....


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I'm not upset about it because it was only a $500 car and I plan on going black, all black.
But Macco was nice enough to paint the gas tank dark blue for me :)
 
In a word - garbage! But............if you've only got $200-$300, that might get you a basic paint job and your car would look half way decent for about a year.

The problem with Maaco, Miracle, Earl Schieb, etc is;
A) They barely prep the car at all, and
B) They use VERY inferior quality paint.
The key to any good paint job is preperation. I would suggest getting ahold of an air compressor and D/A sander, buy some materials and prep it yourself. Secondly, negotiate with Maaco and tell them you want their best paint products. You'll have to pay extra and it'll still be crap, just not AS crappy! You could also buy your own paint and have them paint it. Quality paint starts in the neighborhood of $400 a gallon, but then you're going way over your $200-$300 budget. In short, the cheapest and most effective way for you is to prep it yourself and use their high-end paint. It may come out OK!
 
maaco gives the tech 3 pieces of sandpaper and one scuff pad to do the entire car. not nearly enough. like it was said before, prep it yourself. go to a paint supply store and buy some masking tape and some scuff pads. tape off things you dont want to scratch/paint and scuff it good. make sure you dont have any shiney spots and you should be good. make exra sure you do a good job around mouldings, handles, trim, windows, etc. they wont even try to get to these spots and it will peel soon after painting it.

just remember, it may only look good for a short time. if you plan on keeping the car, and want to repaint over the maaco paint, you will most likely have to strip the panel to get that crap off for a good job next time.
 
You can get a ok quality single stage paint (solid or metallic) from Pep Boys (for the US members, Partsource/Crappy Tire for us Canada members) or NAPA - whomever for about $70 a gallon. Rent an air compressor, buy a spray gun (with bleeder valve - unless you like sanding orange peel often) and do it yourself. You could probably do a better job for $200 than you would ever get at maaco. Plus you learn another skill - win/win situation.
 
well , i do know how to prep and paint cars , but the problem is , no enclosed area avaible for me. I'll prolly prep it myself , thats the only part I dont know how to do. if i primed the car with rattle primer , where should I get it from? What sandpaper grit do you recommend? Thanks. BTW , i dont have compressed air sorce
 
jgt58 said:
if i primed the car with rattle primer , where should I get it from? What sandpaper grit do you recommend? Thanks. BTW , i dont have compressed air sorce

Absolutely, positively DO NOT use rattle can primer! You need to find a compressed air source. Is it possible to rent one? As stated before, it's all in the preperation! Check out the above website for info.
 
the car i just bought was maaco-ed last april... i guess its only a matter of time before it starts looking like ****. when the guy got it painted, he got their best packege, and it looks killer right now, im just wondering what its gonna look like after i get outta college.
 
I had Maaco in Savannah GA paint a CJ7 about 8 years ago. I discussed it with them when I got the estimate, paid a bit more, and got an excellent job, for $500 or so. The paint still looked great 5 years later when we sold the Jeep.

The key is discuss what you want first. In that price range, you have to make some decisions and sacrifices.

I just got my 82 painted, for $900, locally this time, single stage, with me removing the trim and stuff, with cleaning and sanding, but NO bodywork. I think it came out perfect. But it is a race toy, not a show car.

Nearly any quality paint job these days, will be in the $2000 range, if there is any body work needed.
 
rd said:
I had Maaco in Savannah GA paint a CJ7 about 8 years ago. I discussed it with them when I got the estimate, paid a bit more, and got an excellent job, for $500 or so. The paint still looked great 5 years later when we sold the Jeep.

The key is discuss what you want first. In that price range, you have to make some decisions and sacrifices.

I just got my 82 painted, for $900, locally this time, single stage, with me removing the trim and stuff, with cleaning and sanding, but NO bodywork. I think it came out perfect. But it is a race toy, not a show car.

Nearly any quality paint job these days, will be in the $2000 range, if there is any body work needed.
$2000 for someone to do it on the side....most shops near here wouldnt touch a complete paint job for under $5000
 
Happy with Macco

I had my sons car painted after his wreck. I did the prep, removed all the trim, lights ect... sanded it, primed where needed (rattel can) color sanded with 1000 grit, and they painted it bright (burn your eyes in the sun Orange) It looks great, and after a year it looks new. A kid walked on his trunk after two weeks, left foot prints, i washed it, not a scuff to be seen. I also had a ranger painted a red metalic and paid extra for a shot of clear, it looks new, same story on the prep. Anything you dont want painted, remove! they suck at masking, but the guys in everett wa do a good job of shooting. The trouble spots for mustangs according to them is the plastic, if you dont ask for the primer designed for the flexable bumpers, and trim you may not get it.