Maaco vs Mexico: The Hunt for Affordable Paint & Body

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slimjim

slimjim

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I decided to conduct an experiment.

Hate me if you will but, I’ve been curious about both options and wanted to give them a shot. Have any of you gone these routes?

Maaco VS Mexico: The Hunt for AFFORDABLE Paint & Body Work - Part 1
 
Really would like to see the results. When is the car going to be finished?
Do you know what brand paint they are going to be using?
 
Mexico has the reputation of extremely poor quality. I have seen it on upholstery.
 
I had my Duster painted by One Day Paint and Body back in 84. It took just a bit more than a year for the paint to go completely flat. I’ve seen the same thing happen to other cars painted at discount shops as well. I’d guess there’s an issue with the inexpensive paint they’re using, which makes me wonder, if you bought a quality paint, would they apply it for you?
 
Bossanova5 said:
Really would like to see the results. When is the car going to be finished?
Do you know what brand paint they are going to be using?
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We haven’t discussed the paint brand yet. I think he's more focused on the body work at the moment. This isn’t a cheap TJ option so, I’m hopeful everything turns out well. I’ve seen this gentlemen’s previous work and it looked great. Fingers crossed.
 
Maaco could be a possibility. It all depends on the guy at the end of the gun. Look at examples of his work.
 
Murray said:
Mexico has the reputation of extremely poor quality. I have seen it on upholstery.
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Agreed. I only decided to go with this guy as I’ve personally seen his work. Both of my neighbor’s vehicles (which he painted) looked great at about 5 years old.
 
My uncle painted a 78 T/A. OF COURSE black and gold. Bandit tribute. Maaco did his in 2010. I'll be damned it still shines to this day. It's dirty and has flaws all over it but it's shiny no doubt
 
Local guy here prepped his car himself - removed all the trim, lights, door handles himself and drove it to Macco. It looks good, and a year later it it holding up just fine.
 
I had Maaco paint a truck for my company a few years back. They told me up front all my options: single stage or BC-CC. 1,3or 5 year life span. Primers and a few other things. All price points.
It was a work truck and they would not sell me a plan longer than 5 years which was a single stage acrylic enamel. It was there “Emron.”
I see that truck every so often still on the road and still shinny.
 
Demonic said:
Local guy here prepped his car himself - removed all the trim, lights, door handles himself and drove it to Macco. It looks good, and a year later it it holding up just fine.
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I plan to strip the car before taking it in. Anything to make it easier for them. I’ve seen good Maaco & Mexico paint jobs. Hoping to get decent work from both.
 
Tanker said:
I had my Duster painted by One Day Paint and Body back in 84. It took just a bit more than a year for the paint to go completely flat. I’ve seen the same thing happen to other cars painted at discount shops as well. I’d guess there’s an issue with the inexpensive paint they’re using, which makes me wonder, if you bought a quality paint, would they apply it for you?
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A guy I grew up with, is a body guy. He left a high end body shop due to crazy hours, and projects that had dead lines always.
He got a 9-5 at Macco as it was close to his home fur a year or two.
Some jobs were scuff and shoot specials. Some were some right but customer's paid for it.
Some were just shot there. Disassembly, Body work and prep done prior to arrival. And paint supplied.
They have (had) a nice spray booth and good painter.
They did quite a few like that.
 
Syleng1 said:
I had Maaco paint a truck for my company a few years back. They told me up front all my options: single stage or BC-CC. 1,3or 5 year life span. Primers and a few other things. All price points.
It was a work truck and they would not sell me a plan longer than 5 years which was a single stage acrylic enamel. It was there “Emron.”
I see that truck every so often still on the road and still shinny.
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Imron was good paint
 
I helped a friend restore a rough 65 Impala SS 396. He bought PPG BC and CC paint. I sprayed the door jams, backs of doors, back of hood and back of decklid. Then I helped him assemble the car. Right before I was ready to paint it, his wife said something that pissed me off so bad that I just left. I never really liked her. She had a mouth on her, and she had no filter on what she said. She totally tore into me for how long it had taken, and basically called me a slacker, and suggested that I needed to start coming over more often. I TOLD her that it would take several years. Anyway, I told them that they would have to find someone else to paint the car; I was done. He took the paint to the local Maaco, and they painted it for him for a very reasonable price. It came out real nice. I guess you gotta figure that the guy who spends all day every day spraying cars will probably get good at it.
PLUS, over the years, I have flipped several cars. I had Maaco paint several of them after I did the prep. They always came out OK.
 
Some of the best paint jobs I've ever seen in my entire life were on low riders painted in Mexico.
 
I just had my D150 painted by Maaco. They did a really nice job. I didn't have them mess with small dents and I had it all stripped of trim and lights. They pulled the box, primed and painted with BC/CC including jambs and inside doors. $7200. Shop rate $80/hr. Just the paint was about $2400. I would have them do it again. I thought it was fair for the labor they did.

20240520_061045.jpg
 
Freezerman said:
I just had my D150 painted by Maaco. They did a really nice job. I didn't have them mess with small dents and I had it all stripped of trim and lights. They pulled the box, primed and painted with BC/CC including jambs and inside doors. $7200. Shop rate $80/hr. Just the paint was about $2400. I would have them do it again. I thought it was fair for the labor they did.

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That red looks great on that pickup. Sweet ride man. $80/hr seems right for Maaco today.
 
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