maaco, that says it all, share

[MyFirst240SX]

What kinds of experiences have you had with maaco. My car was repainted(now has different hood/fenders/and front bumper cover from car with stock paint job, 13 years old jesh) with maaco before I got it and I must say sloppy paint job with a faded roof. But I am flat broke with a very ugly and chipped front bumper and mismatched grey hatchback. Need a paint job with little budget. So I am considering maaco since the bulk of my money is going toward new engine a eventually custom turbo plans. Any input on maaco?

[aeontony]

I think most people will say one or both of the following:

1) You pay for what you get
2) If you do the prep work, it'll come out that much better.

$500 is cutting it really close for a paint job. I honestly have no idea how paint places can offer a paint job for $500..some corners have to be cut, no doubt. I mean, a couple gallons of good paint costs that much alone. So your best bet would be to minimize the amount of corners they'll potentially cut.

If you have a low budget, there are some others as well: Earl Scheib, One Day Paint, Miracle Auto. You may want to do some reasearch with the bbb around your area to see what sort of complaints, if any, have been filed against these paint places.

[Spec_v5150]

True you get what you pay for......sometimes. SDometimes there are exceptions to the rule and that rule gets tossed around FAAAR too much. MAACO has different levels of quality..so their 500 paint job wont look the same as the 3200 paint job I was quoted (supposedly to OEM or better quality)Try to see if they have samples of their cheapest paint job. If looks decent and makes the car uniform in color...what re you really losing. If you would rather wait for a high quality paint job, you can always do the prep work yourself and drive around in a primered car

[zenkiDori]

if you take your time, painting really isn't too hard. but if painting the car yourself isn't really an option, maybe you don't have a place to work with or you are just plain lazy, then you can do a few things to get a better job out of maaco. here is what a coworker of mine did:

do the prep yourself, sand and primer. pay close attention to detail and take your time, don't rush it or it will come out ****ed.

buy your own paint. pick your color, find a wholesaler(sp), and get a few buckets. in addition to being assured you're getting quality paint, whatever they don't use you can use in the future as touch up paint.

pay a little extra. the job he got costed about $400 something all together. he paid extra for them to paint the door jams, under hood, trunk etc. also, by paying more, he was assured to get a few more coats of color and clear.

tell them in advance what you expect. he told them up front what he was expecting to get and if he didn't get it he would neeed to have them repaint it at thier cost. he wasn't an ass about this, and they agreed that if the job did not meet his expectations, they would do it again untill they got it right.

so $400 something later, he has the nicest maaco job i have seen.

[mbmbmb23]

My advice would make friends with someone who has a buddy at a paint shop....and get as much of a hookup as possible. Ask around at mechanic/body shops who does some of the best work in town. Then...namedrop that person who referred you when you stop by to talk to the painter. He may give you a special rate if you buy all the paint and do most of the prepwork on your time...and all he has to do is mask and spray it.

The thing I've learned in my brief research for getting my car repainted is......most cars today have many layers of paint.....and a few of those layers are different colors....especially the metallic cars. There will be like a metallic coat used and the regular color coat used....then clearcoat (or something like that). If you dont use all of them it wont have the proper OEM depth and look. As far as I've ever heard...the cheapest paintjob at Maaco is their "1 step process". One step? Yikes. In college my buddy in Cleveland told me about a shop that would spray your entire car for $30.......one coat....no prep (not even wiping bugs off the hood).....pretty ghetto. I too have heard that Maaco will come out better if you do all the prep work yourself.



-m

[MyFirst240SX]

my dad has a nice air compressor, i think i mgiht go in half with him for a nice sander, do that myself, primer it, go to Maaco

[Nerfdude]

i did all the bodywork on my car myself. i swapped panels and bondo'd everything in my garage. bondo's actually really easy to work with- i even shaved my nissan emblem on the front bumper and my side markers. you just have to practice with it, is all. do all the prep work yourself- take off all the trim, door panels, etc. if you buy the paint yourself, do what i did- have the paint place charge an aerosol can with the color you're using, and do your own doorjambs, gas door, and hood. all you have to do is scuff the jamb with a scotchbrite pad, clean it with prep all, and spray. then when you take it in to be painted, all they have to do is spray the body. mine's going in in two weeks for a two-stage OEM paintjob. including wetsanding and primer, it's only costing me 650 through a reputable painter in St Louis... he originally quoted me 3200.

350z ember orange with a black roof.... enter St. Louis' hottest hatch, come two weeks.

[blue240]

3 words.Prep it yourself!.The bodyshop I work at has sent cars to maaco,we preped it and sent it out.came out fine.All you need is 500 grit wet sand paper(sand till the paint is dull with a soft block), gray scotchbrite pads.

[Silverbullet]

prep work for sure. Do you know why Macco is so cheap? Well, they use a different blend of paint compared to conventional auto body paints. What they do is just put a coat of thier stuff over your existing paint. So it will look a little shiatty. If you do the prep work such as sanding off old paint and priming, it will dosn't look bad at all. I herd they look like paint from the factory (not bad) or better.

[MyFirst240SX]

So to take the paint off all you have to do it get it dull with a soft block. Then take it down to the metal with 500 grit wet sand paper. THen use spray can primer?
Would a air compressor sander be smart?

[aeontony]

I have the same questions, actually.

I don't believe you are supposed to sand down to the metal. In fact I believe that's really bad because if you don't primer it right away, you run the risk of rust. If you are removing rust, then yes you want to get down to the source and excise it. But if you're repainting the vehicle, I don't believe it's necessary.

You can get the car sanded down to the factory primer. That is if you want to be really, really anal. I think mose places doing repaints use the factory paint as a base..rough it up evenly until it's "dull".

I've heard bad things about aerosol primer, and this is where my question comes in, actually. I've heard aerosol primers react with factory paint. I don't know what the outcome is, but I've been warned against it. So what is one supposed to do? Will the better primers (Dupont/PPG/House of Kolors, etc) not react? And in order to use this primer, would you have to rent a booth? Or get body shops to charge, well, like 10 aersol cans with your primer for you?

[blue240]

You dont sand all your paint off,sanding with 5oo grit gives the paint something to bite to.If you tried to sand all your color off with 500 grit it would take the rest of your life.Your only dulling the paint for bite.Get some 500 and sand a small spot on your rocker panel and you will understand better.bare metal should be treated with metal etching primer.never prime or paint over anything shiny.You really have to sand you balls off to go through the color.Also you should also try to get mirrors,rear wiper,door handle,mouldings off.I took everthing off mine when I sprayed it.It came out clean.Mines subaru rally blue.Preping takes time I took easily a month or so.Its not an hour job.

[blue240]

spray cans are ok 4 small spots.dont can prime whole car.

[king_johnthegreat]

Prep sanding and primer is pretty straight forward, like these guys have said; an easy way to prime well is to actually rent a portable compressor and sprayer. You may need to buy your own moisture filter to attach between the air hose and sprayer, but they only cost about $10. That is the best insurance for primer/paint longevity. With a well scuffed, even surface, the only thing left to fret about is the integrity of the primer and paint. I'll tell you, using a sprayer to do your own paint really isn't all that hard, either. If you prime it yourself, and wet sand between paint coats, you can build up a very durable, even paint job. The between coats sanding is 600 grit to 800 grit, and finish sanding should start no lower than 800 and progress through 1500 to 2000 grit. Clearcoat being the final step, you can use a 1500 to 2000 grit to remove any runs, and finish the whole job off with the appropriate polishing liquids/compounds. I did a carbon fiber racing monocoque this way, and the job came out IMMACULATE!! It only took me two weekends to do, also. I only wet sanded between coats to get rid of any runs or dust from not using a down draft paint booth. I did the whole job for about $500 cost, but got paid ridiculous money. Just find a good automotive paint supplier, and check out the House of Kolors book, at Barnes and Nobles.
John

[igotswansons]

i have had my fair shair of maaco paintjobs and so have some of my friends... the first thing u need to do is choose a color that wont show a lot of blemishes.. stay away from black!!!! prep work is vital.. my friend sanded down his entire car and then paid 175 and his paint looks great... u dont need to sand down to metal but definitely wet sand the car down completely so the paint bites... go ahead and pay maaco the extra 50 or 75 for the integrated clearcoat... u might be able to substitute the uv protectant for the intergrated clear.. this makes the car look very new and oem...basically its not the paint that shows, its the prep work... spend a day or 2 prepping it and u will be happy...

[itr206]

im prob getting mine sprayed just becuase the kid who had mien spray painted it, so i want it 1/2 decent. its just a beater for now . so for $300 you cant beat it .

[memphiss13]

i have been thinking of doing this to my car also. so can somebody that has done this tell me everything i need to do it. here is what i see so far from reading.

A paint sprayer
primer
500 grit sand paper
my choice of paint

is that it? about how much primer would it take to do this? gallon? if i could complete a paint job for less than $750 or so that would be great. don't think i will attempt to paint it myself. just prep and take to maaco for a nice coat of the is300 gunmetal color.

[itr206]

i am thinking about 350z bronze