Maaco paint jobs?

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69bronzeT5

69bronzeT5

My wife's car is faster.
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Anybody here get their car painted at Maaco? I'm 16 and can't really afford a good body shop paint job. I plan on using my Duster as my daily driver/ show car for the summer so I want something that looks nice. I've seen some Maaco paintjobs where the car has very little clear coat shine to it (almost looks like they didn't put any on) so I'm leaning towards the Signature paint job which includes a two step base coat/clear coat application but they don't list any prices on their site? SO, anybody here get their car painted at Maaco, how did it turn out and if you don't mind, how much did it cost & please post pictures. Thanks!


There's also another route I might take. I got turned onto a guy up Island from me who apperentley has good prices but I haven't had a chance to contact him yet.
 
Maaco is ok at best. You get what you pay for. I had my duster done there and it has some flaws but its not to bad.
 
paint is all about prep. Do all your prep yourself and take off all the trim, and they'll do a good job... otherwise you'll have a driver but no shower..
 
The usual problem with Maaco or Earl Schieb is the quality of materials they use and the amount of prep or lack of prep (dis-assembly, sanding original paint).

Driver....sure. Show car....no
 
I've seen some good spray jobs come out of Maaco. As long as your car doesn't need any body work, they often do a decent job. But it also depends a lot on the individual person that's doing the spraying.
 
Since these shops are independently owned it depends on the owner. I live in York, PA and the Macco here has very poor quality because of the amount on dirt that gets in the paint finsh plus the owner is difficult to deal with. The other issue my son ran into when he got his car painted there was he tried to deal with the main headquarters and they would not help... Their paint jobs are good if you are looking to make a car look good to sell.
 
At the age of 16 and your daily driver too... better get Macco.
Save your money until the daily driver and the show car fill 2 parking spaces.
 
If you do get it painted there for petes sake don't tell anyone!

crashcaptn

THAT IS FUNNY IN YOU SINGATRUE!
 
It might be an idea to see/meet the guy who is going to shoot the car and toss a couple bucks his way, an extra $50 in his pocket might really help.
AL
 
You know. I'm 16 too and debated on getting the paint done there for my rampage but decided against it. If you do all of the prep yourself and take it, then you can get away with it, but I have known people that did the prep and it was still flawed (minor runs and stuff like that). I am going to pay a buddy of mine 1200-1500 bucks for a paintjob. The price will go down the more I help, but at least I know he's a good painter and am going to get the result of an expensive paintjob. If you want to show your car, don't rush it. In the end its up to you, but from one 16 year old to another, I decided against it.
 
My above post shouldn't affect your descision though, because like the other guys said... if you do the prep then sometimes they turn out ok paintjobs and it depends on who's doing it. Really a toss-up with them.
 
These are all the cars I have taken to Maaco. They did no body work or prep. I did it all and they are all base clear. The cheapest spray job was 650.00 the highest was $1000. This is the only way I have seen them do a good job. The one by me is very nice to work with but I do all my own body work. I know there are chevys and fords in there. Hey what can I say... I am a car nut and like them all. GOMANGO was not a maaco job.:-D

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I had them paint a hood for my wife's '98 Jeep Wrangler years ago. I took all latches, windshield squirters, and other items off before I took it there. It only cost me $100 and they did a pretty good job. I can't tell you whether its still holding up or not because I sold it, but it looked good when I reinstalled it and it did hold up to the Summer sun in Turkey.
 
Ask around for referrals, talk to the shop owners, take your time looking. Stop by a place a few times, look around at what they're working on, get a feel for their attitude. Do as much of the prep yourself. A fellow club member recommended a chain called Sprayglo, I was very satisfied all around. One tip: even tho you'll be excited when you first see the new paint, look it over from top to bottom in sunlight, a good shop will stand by their work and fix anything that's not right.
 
Before you get a paint job from Maaco, make sure you ask them how long the type of paint you choose needs to cure before waxing/buffing. Their cheapest option doesn't use hardeners and needs to dry for months before you are allowed to apply wax. Also ask how thick the paint will be and and if it can be wetsanded when it is done. If you can wetsand and polish, you can make any paint job look better.
 
1967DartGT said:
Before you get a paint job from Maaco, make sure you ask them how long the type of paint you choose needs to cure before waxing/buffing. Their cheapest option doesn't use hardeners and needs to dry for months before you are allowed to apply wax. Also ask how thick the paint will be and and if it can be wetsanded when it is done. If you can wetsand and polish, you can make any paint job look better.
Click to expand...

He is right. If you go the cheap route the paint will remain soft for months even though they bake it. All of the maaco chains I have seen get there paint from the same supplier. You have to ask for their best urethane paint and not single stage. It will really depend on the knowledge of the painters they have working for them. The maaco I use has a veteran painter that knows his chit. You will have to look at the work they are putting out at your local shop and you be the judge. I have seen 4000 dollar paint jobs that the paint quality looks like crap.
 
I was going to paint my friends 56 Plymouth 2 door wagon. I did all the bodywork and final prep work, got it all ready, but I was unable to paint it in my garage, so I suggested they have it sprayed at Maaco. When the car came back, I sanded and buffed it out, re-assembled the car and it turned out great.

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i agree with the guys above...im only 19 so money is an issue for me as well...if your going to go the maaco route (or any cost effective route) you need to do the bodywork yourself- it may not be perfect, but atleast you know whats flawed and that you put in the hard work...as for Maaco themselves, i wouldnt go with their single stage, go with a base clear so that you buff it out nicely...the local maaco near me is run by a guy with 35 mopars, but hes only had a handful of his cars painted there obviously...I saw some of their work- some looks good, some looks crappy...i also had a friend who did co op there and told me that they prep the cars like **** before they paint which is kinda sad...so if i was you, check out their work, talk to the guys there about your options, make it clear you want a good job done and dont take no for an answer if there are problems with it afterwards....If it wasnt for the fact that the bodyshop at my dads school was painting my car for dirt cheap, id be going to maaco as well

good luck
 
Prep Prep Prep.

Talk to the guys in advance. If you want to incur a little favor with them, buy the primer coat from them. Do your body work, and use their primer to guarantee compatibility when they paint it. Make your intentions clear, that you are an enthusiast. They are savvy enough to know that a good job on an enthusiast's car, will yield them word of mouth promotion.
I also subscribe to the extra bucks to the painter philosophy. He seldom gets the chance to earn extra money on jobs, so an extra few bucks, is a great motivator.
 
yeah when i was 15 i had a 1977 ford granada.. i didn't do ANYTHING to it, just had them do prep and paint and everything.. it was a bad idea.. The only reason i did that anyway was cause i was young and it was a pos 1977 ford granada.. i just wanted it all ONE color instead of mismatching fenders and rust.. The paint came off of the front within a year.. just flaked off when i sprayed it off with the hose! They fixed the problem and i sold the car not too long after. My dad saw it in Oakland a year or so ago and said it still looked good though.. but there were some problem spots.

moral of the story - take off trim and prep yourself.
 
DONT DO IT UNLESS YOU DONT CARE HOW IT LOOKS!!!!! I've had many paint jobs done by Maco in the early 90's. Unless I did all of the prep. and body work they all looked like crap. But I've heard that they do better work these days. I would say to shop around. You get what you pay for.
 
Hey 69bronzet5 -
Just being 16 isn't the only reason to be on a budget. I'm more than triple your age and building on a really tight budget. I'm also looking for a quality paint job at a reasonable price.
PREP IS THE KEY.
My '69 Dart is an eBay purchase. The PO told me he had all the bodywork and paint already done at Maaco and it was almost ready for show. The paint looked ok and shined fairly well but I just didn't like the color (the PO said it was as close to GoMango as he could get through Maaco). The big problem was that my Dart was originally a 270 with the stainless trim strip down the side at the beltline. The PO removed the trim and had Maaco weld up the holes. Every 16" or so down the side is a slight recess in the beltline where they ground down through the crease and then painted right over it.
I'm in process now of stripping the old paint and then will try my hand at bodywork for the first time to fix the problems.
I've also been told that the standard Maaco paint is a very hard paint that doesn't have much resistance to rock chips and impact. Suggest you also check that out with your local Maaco or whoever you decide to paint your ride.
 
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