I need to get my car repainted and was considering maaco, but people tell me not to go there because they do a terrible job. I was wondering if anyone has any experience in painting a car by themselves who can help me. I would pay for a better more expensive paint job, but money is a little tight right now. and i was told that i could do it myself and make it look good.
thanks for any help

 

with no painting experience at all i would say you have little chance of doing a nice paint job. I am a painter at a body shop ive been doing it for about 6months plus 2yrs of body school and if you have no experience yuo have no chance. There is a skill to the whole process and im still learning. I would say to start small with little projects and find someone who knows how to do it to help you learn. Otherwise in a Paint job you can expect to get whay you pay for. for $300 dollars you will get a 300 dollar paint job. If your going to go to macco i would totally detrim the car youself, scuff the body yourself, and if your good with tape tape as much as you can off yourself, then you might get a descent job. Otherwise bite the bullet and save.

 

it would be best to ask around, and get opinions from people more in your area of the country

 

You'ld be better off giving it to Maaco than painting it yourself. Go around it with a red scothbrite pad, make everything not shiny, emphasize on the edges... that's where most chips turn into paint peeling. Pull your mirrors. There's not much trim to remove on these cars. pop your emblems off with a spatula, rub off the glue with your thumbs, don't use goo-gone. Pull your side markers and taillights and let them have it!

I wouldn't expect too much, it is Maaco after all, but the car will look much better than your first attempt, and will aggrevate you much less. Trust me.

 

A friend of mine had a very bad experience with maaco on his '88 firebird. They kept it longer than they said, left some scratches, and actually charged him for some dent and scratch repair he never wanted to be done. He had to take the car back to have the scratches that they put in it removed( he got them on that with the warranty). Later he was clipped in a lot, the paint flaked alot and just plain looked poorly done, even with a small chip. I had my front end done at a local place, $500, for the front end and black headlight area, but I got very good work. It's basically a "you get what you pay for" deal. I wouldn't trust maaco.

 

Maaco is definately a toilet bowl IMO.
But it will still be better than the self-paint, and the reason Maaco paint falls off is they dont sand it. His paint will stick if he sands it before dropping it off.

 

I strongly suggest shopping around. You will get what you pay for. I just had mine painted and I love the outcome. No mistakes whatsoever and they repaired any imperfections from door dings and scratches. It was gone 1 week and they completely sanded everything down, made repairs, painted and used a clear coat. I spent $1,000 and it was totally worth it. Now my '94 looks brand new and I get looks everywhere I go.

Save your money and do it right!!

 

I agree, it's always much better to wait and get it done right the first time, rather than get a quick fix and have to do it again and again.

 

I have decided to do all the body work myself and send the car to maaco to have them paint it. i was wondering if any of you could help me with some problems i have. first, the bumper is in pretty bad shape cosmetically. it has no dents or dings, but many paint chips all the way to the plastic that are pretty large. Do I need to strip all the paint off of the bumper and prime it to fix this or just sand it smooth? also, i have a custom fiberglass cowl hood that has a few cracks in it. how would i go about fixing this myself? and last, how deep do I have to sand the body before i take the car to maaco and with what grit sand paper should i do this? thanks for all your help.

 

thats interesting..even with the horror stories you have chosen maaco? good luck buddy

 

Did u have it painted yet? If so how did it turn out?

 

Maaco isn't THAT bad. Not really. Not for a budget type deal. I've seen stuff come out of the Maaco near me for 500 bucks that looked the same as a 1500 dollar paint job at a body shop. You gotta think...just like any other chain...some are going to be better than others...BUT...Painting is ALL they do. (mostly) Of course, a Maaco paintjob and a $4k paintjob (like mine is gettin this weekend!!!) side by side...and you'll definitely tell the difference. You DO get what you pay for...but, for a economy paintjob at a body shop compared to Maaco's...I couldn't tell the difference. Just my $.02

Of course, your results may differ. Some restrictions apply. No purchase necessary to win. Odds of winning depends on the number of entries. Your mileage may vary.

-Mike

 

Maaco can be a very good place to get paint done becasue each Maaco is privately owned. Maaco just puts their name on places to attract more business and get a percentage of the shops $$. Just go to the maaco where u want to get the paiting done and ask to see some of there work. If it is a lot of 20 year old kids working, steer clear because some of them lack the skills and motviation.

 

sorry for not replying, i havent' had the time. i took my car to a place pretty much just like a Maaco. it's called Peach, or used to be, it was recently bought out by the employees and changed the name, but same people working there. i got a 500 dollar paint job (all door jambs, trunk, and hood painted also) i did all the body work myself. when i got it back it actually looked pretty good except for the fact that i picked it up on a rainy day and the car was parked outside. there were really no major problems, except that they forgot to paint the underside of my spoiler ( i even took it off for them), and i only found one noticeable run. but other than that it's a great paint job for the price. now i just have to see how long it lasts. hope this helps anyone who wants to get there car painted by a place like Maaco.

 

I would get violent if I found a "noticeable run" on a new paint job. You should post pics though.