Maaco worth a damn?

[wannarunem]

Does anyone know how good of quality Maaco painting is? The guy said it will come with a one year warranty...Should i have a hood painted there?

http://www.maaco.com/locate/centers/M21/M2125.jsp?center=M2125

 

[RatzoRC]

Being that your in Texas, I'd say to give it a shot. Usually if anything will go wrong, it will be caused by the sun. If they give you a year, it might be worth it.
I wouldn't have them paint a custom cruiser, but daily driver should e fine.

I had them paint my front door at my old house. held up fine.

I took the door to them when it was new, and before I removed the old one...duhh

 

[SumoDethRat]

I suggest, take a paint course at a community college if you have the time. Cheapy paint jobs involve single stage paint, as in base coat and clear coat all in one. If they only guarantee a year it will probably look like crap after the year. A good paint job should last atleast 10 years if taken care of, ie wax once a month. Also if you get any paint DO NOT WAX for 30 days and be very carefull washing it. It is EXTREMELY easy to scratch single stage paint. I just sprayed a corolla test car in my paint class with single stage black paint. And it got dusty when moved out of the booth, just wiping it caused a crap load of scratchs in the paint.

It probably will end up with orange peel (wavy textured surface) in the paint.

 

[Monkey Wrench]

Hey, if Burt Reynolds says it's good, then damnit it's GOOD! Why would The Bandit lie?

 

[wannarunem]

lmao......no ones had a vehicle painted by these people???

 

[sweetdiesel]

I was going to use Maaco to get the hood repainted on my pickup truck, but after seeing this review I opted out.

http://www.maacopaint.info/

I also heard from friends and family that even lasting one year is stretching it. I'm just going to wait until I get enough funds to get a quality job done. Are you planning to keep your car for a while?

 

[wannarunem]

Are you planning to keep your car for a while?

I'm not sure....We may trade it on on a new vehicle next year. If we decide to keep it ..just like you say..i will want a quality paint job done.


Gonna read that review now.

 

[4u2nv]

DONT get maaco. They use crappy paint. If it was any good they would give you more than a years worth of warrenty. poop even Omini paint (a offshoot of PPG) offers a 7 year warrenty and that paints very cheap. If I was you, Id bring it to a technical college that does autobody and have them do it. They'll just charge you supplies.
Any place that charges extra for Sanding, can't be good.

 

[Monkey Wrench]

Yeah, but can a technical college offer a Sweetdiesel nugget like this:

I don't think so!

 

[Nubster]

We had one of our cruisers painted by them. They painted it exactly like we brought it in, over dirt and mud and everything. NO prep work at all. Much of the paint came off after washing too.

 

[HeartBreak]

You sure they didn't use watercolors, Nubster?

My sis had her saturn repainted. No prep, not even a scuffing. The paint literally flaked off over the course of a month. The car looked like a snake shedding its skin.

 

[4u2nv]

Thats the results of what I seen with them as well. I wasn't joking when I said they charge extra for sanding...lol.. They seriously do. When I worked for ford, there was a customers car that I had to pick up from macco to have some engine work done, and when I walked in to the shop (at macco) to pick it up, the guy was spraying the car with the doors open and was shielding off the glass with a empty beer case...lol.. I just laughed and got in the car and left.

Btw, that top picture of Burt Rynolds is the grossest thing I think I have ever seen. Looks like the dudes covered in taco meat..lol..

 

[SuperMaxx83]

well i did have my car painted there and it was a custom color and after about 13month it al went to crap very fast it started rusting and the work they did on it was falling off and i never drive the car during the winter months and i only drive it a few times in the summer and the rest of the time its in the garage so i would not recomand getting anything painted there and they did stand behind there warrenty and they sent me a check for 1200 bucks back after the shop closed down so i wouldnt do it if i was you i found out the reason the shop closed is because they were charging to much and not doing tha kind of work they were supposed to do

 

[SumoDethRat]

Do the sanding yourself, prepwork really isn't that hard. Just watch out on body lines its easy to burn through edges. If there is still paint and primer on it give it a light sanding with 220-800 grit and you can paint straight over it. It the original paint is bubbling, sand blast the sucker or use aircraft stripper on it and reprime it. You can rent a booth yourself and probably achieve reasonable results, if you know how to mix paint and adjust a spray gun.

Also it you need to use any body filler it is important to make sure there aren't going to be any negative interactions with the materials you are using.

 

[4u2nv]

prep work is what makes or breaks the paintjob I think. You can have the best painter in the world, but if its prep is wrong, its gonna look like crap. But yet prep it right and be a mediocre painter, taking your time with the prep will pay off and look good. Having a good place to spray too is a huge part. I've seen this on more than one ocassion (Usually by silly ricers) painting there cars outside in the driveway.. Nothing better than dirt ya kick up with the hose and your shoes and also flies in your paint. sexay..lol

When it all comes down to it, ya get what ya pay for. Theres no such thing as a good and cheap paintjob unless your going to do it yourself. Something as easy as a hood, Id go to a body shop and wait for the painter after hours and see what he'll do it for (off the record). If ya were closer, Id charge ya a gallon of nitro (you pay the supplies) to prep and spray it for ya.

 

[SumoDethRat]

prep work is what makes or breaks the paintjob I think. You can have the best painter in the world, but if its prep is wrong, its gonna look like crap.

When it all comes down to it, ya get what ya pay for. Theres no such thing as a good and cheap paintjob unless your going to do it yourself. Something as easy as a hood, Id go to a body shop and wait for the painter after hours and see what he'll do it for (off the record). If ya were closer, Id charge ya a gallon of nitro (you pay the supplies) to prep and spray it for ya.

A gallon of clear runs $300 plus
paper for masking is $130 plus a roll
tape is $10 a roll
Gallon of lacquer thinner is $40
Hardner runs $100 a quart
Toner(base coat color and you need multiple toners) is $140+

Plus all the prep stuff primers, sand paper, degreaser, list goes on.

All of this will paint more than one car (with the exception of tape). But its not uncommon to run over $1000 in supplies for a DECENT paint job. And even with a paint booth you can still get contaminents in your paint. But painting outside a booth is not impossible. You can make your own booth with plastic sheets. But like 4U said earlier give your local community college a call they only charge supplies which for a hood should run more than $200 (and I think this is high).

 

[psunitro]

Junk paint, like was said. I bought a car that was just painted there and the paint was so-so, and I had a car painted there.....that was bad. They paint what you bring, like was said. Mud? It gets painted over. You betternot have ANY rust on the car, b/c itwill bubble the paint in NO TIME.