YACT: Maaco Paint jobS?

[JoPh]

my car needs a paint job bad, but since i dont think ill have the car for more than 2 more years. im thinking of getting painted at maaco. can you guys give me feedback from your experiance or stories youve heard about their quality and what not.

i need to call them up and get an esitmate. i have a 95 white neon and i want it painted white again, anyone have a estimate of what that would cost?


thanks.

 

[notfred]

I hope you dont mind having all the trim, windshield wipers, badging, etc. painted white. Have you ever seen a car that was painted at maaco? They look like crap.

 

[pyonir]

uh-oh better get maaco!

 

[brtspears2]

Their 239$ whatever cheapo sucks, paint will fade in about a month, at least on my friend's civic.

 

[JoPh]

Originally posted by: brtspears2
Their 239$ whatever cheapo sucks, paint will fade in about a month, at least on my friend's civic.

i dont care about it fading. right now all the paint on my car is flaking off. so if it just faded that would be a huge improvement.

 

[randomlinh]

well, my paint hasn't faded. but they did a crap ass job... a bit of paint on the headlight... a crap load of sand in my dash and under it... lots of green on the dash too (green car). and it's chipping very quickly now (1.5yrs so far).

THEY SUCKAS.

 

[gump47371]

Someone once told me they went to Maaco to get their car painted. There was a pile of bird crap on it when they took it in to paint it.

When it came out, guess what was still there, and painted over?

 

[Pliablemoose]

Pay the extra $$$ to have them do things like mask off your trim & headlights, etc... Don't get the cheapest one...

Friend @ work just had a pickup painted by them, he's going to another body shop to have all their screw-ups fixed.

 

[Desslok]

Just go to a local auto body shop and ask some of the guys if they paint on the side. It would be better than Macco.

 

[AvesPKS]

Get some auto spray paint from a Murray's, or Trak Auto, or something. My uncle did this, which turned out to be hilarious. "You can't tell any difference from 20 feet away."

 

[radioouman]

My sister had her car painted by Maaco. We cleaned that car as well as possible before taking it there. Well, while it was out, a bird crapped on it. They didn't clean it, and they painted over it. Her car was a 94 Plymouth Sundance, and it's paint was peeling too. The Maaco job kept it looking decent for about six months, and then it started to flake off too.

The best way to handle this problem on your car is the cheapest way but the most labor intensive. Since you own a white car, it is super easy to match because there is no metallic flek in the paint. So, you go to your auto parts store, and by a couple different grades of sandpaper, some grey primer, and paint. MAKE SURE YOU LOOK UP YOUR CAR IN THE PAINT COLOR MATCH GUIDE! Since you have a white car, I'm 95% sure that you'll find a match right on their shelves.

Sand all of the loose paint off of the car. If the paint and primer have peeled and it is rusting, then sand out the rust. (Use a coarser grit paper.) Remove the dust with a tack cloth or paper towel. Just make sure you remove it all. Prime it with two coats of primer, then paint it with at least two coats of paint. Make sure to let it dry between coats. Do this in the sun on a hot day with low humidity if possible. Paint with even strokes and a constant distance from the car. Make sure not to apply too much paint at one time. (Make sure you mask off all of the areas that you don't want paint/primer on!)

This will take you about a day to do correctly, and it will look fine on a white car. (Make sure that you mix the paint completely by shaking for about five minutes before spraying on the car.) If you don't like the way it looks, then you are only out about $20, and can have someone else paint it. I had a lot of luck with this method on my white Plymouth Reliant. Just take your time and be careful with the paint, and it should turn out fine.

 

[teckmaster]

I would take my car to be professionally done, even if I was gonna keep it 6 more months. It will help when you sell it. I bought a hood for my car and had it painted by a professional. That alone cost around $500. Look around, you should be able to get your whole car done for somewhere between $1,200 - $1,500.

 

[Wolverine27]

Originally posted by: teckmaster
I would take my car to be professionally done, even if I was gonna keep it 6 more months. It will help when you sell it. I bought a hood for my car and had it painted by a professional. That alone cost around $500. Look around, you should be able to get your whole car done for somewhere between $1,200 - $1,500.

While I agree that having it professionally done would be ideal...but is putting $1200-$1500 into a '95 Neon the smartest way to go?

 

[Quixfire]

Originally posted by: JoPh

Originally posted by: brtspears2
Their 239$ whatever cheapo sucks, paint will fade in about a month, at least on my friend's civic.

i dont care about it fading. right now all the paint on my car is flaking off. so if it just faded that would be a huge improvement.

If your paint is faking off then there is a problem with your base primer, repainting it won't fix the problem. The finish needs to be removed and the base primer reapplied then painted.

 

[chin311]

Originally posted by: Wolverine27


While I agree that having it professionally done would be ideal...but is putting $1200-$1500 into a '95 Neon the smartest way to go?

NO! i wouldnt go over 500$ for a paint job on a 95 neon, i mean the car itself is probably only worth 1500$-2000$. but its your money sooooo...

 

[ChurchOfSubgenius]

i dont care about it fading. right now all the paint on my car is flaking off. so if it just faded that would be a huge improvement.

If your paint is faking off then there is a problem with your base primer, repainting it won't fix the problem. The finish needs to be removed and the base primer reapplied then painted.[/quote]

Ditto

 

[grillmasterP]

A 300 paint job will look like a 300 paint job. - Even if you painted it , the new buyers would probably be able to tell that a crappy paint job was done. "oh this car has been repainted, has it been in an accident?" - If a vehicle is repainted- it will raise quetion about previous accidents- What are you trying to hide.

Ask yourself if spending 300 to repaint will you be able to recover that 300 when you resell it.? A while back, before I sold my 91 Rodeo - I had the hood repainted because it was faded- In the end - I didn't make any difference in the final sale price. IMHO, youre probably better off leaving the original paint even if faded. -

It would be different if your car was rusted or covered with Bondo- then you should definately repaint.

 

[iamme]

jeez, two stories about Maaco painting over bird poop.

 

[edro]

I had my 92 Saturn (I totalled it a few years ago ) painted at Maaco for like $225 total. The side panels were plastic, so the paint needed a flex agent in it. I thought the paint job was outstanding, especially for $225. There was only ONE "run" I found. It was on the back bumper, and you could only see it in the reflection of the sun.

Also, my dad is a "on the side" body man and he paints cars for people every now and then, and he even thought it was a great job.

I guess it all depends on who the painter is...

Call up your local Maaco and ask them if they have any referals.... or see if they will tell you the phone number of a recent customer.... then go look at their car.

 

[Soybomb]

This will take you about a day to do correctly, and it will look fine on a white car

As hideous as spray point looks on a car, I agree its the best bang for the buck. You've got finish problems that a fresh coat of paint won't fix. Touch it up to keep yourself happy with looks and don't drop the cash on the crappy maaco/earl schwieb job.

 

[Ns1]

Maaco can do a decent job if you prep it yourself y'know

come to maaco with your car already sandered/primered/everything taped off/etc and you'll get a pretty decent paint job

 

[thedarkwolf]

Originally posted by: Soybomb

This will take you about a day to do correctly, and it will look fine on a white car

As hideous as spray point looks on a car, I agree its the best bang for the buck. You've got finish problems that a fresh coat of paint won't fix. Touch it up to keep yourself happy with looks and don't drop the cash on the crappy maaco/earl schwieb job.

Hey I spray painted my van and it looks great. Well it looks better than it did anyway .

 

[gump47371]

Originally posted by: thedarkwolf

Originally posted by: Soybomb

This will take you about a day to do correctly, and it will look fine on a white car

As hideous as spray point looks on a car, I agree its the best bang for the buck. You've got finish problems that a fresh coat of paint won't fix. Touch it up to keep yourself happy with looks and don't drop the cash on the crappy maaco/earl schwieb job.

Hey I spray painted my van and it looks great. Well it looks better than it did anyway .

You dewooded your Caravan?? SHAME YOU!!!!

 

[thedarkwolf]

Originally posted by: gump47371

Originally posted by: thedarkwolf

Originally posted by: Soybomb

This will take you about a day to do correctly, and it will look fine on a white car

As hideous as spray point looks on a car, I agree its the best bang for the buck. You've got finish problems that a fresh coat of paint won't fix. Touch it up to keep yourself happy with looks and don't drop the cash on the crappy maaco/earl schwieb job.

Hey I spray painted my van and it looks great. Well it looks better than it did anyway .

You dewooded your Caravan?? SHAME YOU!!!!

LOL the molding was all messed up and the wood was torn and peeling in several spots. My tail gate is still woody atleast for now .