any experience with maaco?, not sure if its off topic? Options

[Malhar95]

i decided to get the celi painted soon, i just wanted to see if anybody has any experience with the painting company, "maaco"
i heres some really nice reviews about them and then some really bad ones....

both on the extremes. just need some more comments and experience with them,

i called them up to see how they paint, they say they suggest to get the old color repainted, and by the sounds of it, it seemed asif all they do it sand ur car and apply new paint without any real prepping

i know i get what i pay for and with 500 dollar paint job i know the paints gonna start fading soon and chip eventually but then again, it has 1 year warranty and i can always get it repainted after a year or two?

[stephen_lee]

dude ur last sentence isnt a question lol.

but all a respray of the same color is just sanding, taping off and spraying.

its a single stage paint job. it will fade after a few years.

[Malhar95]

dude ur last sentence isnt a question lol.

but all a respray of the same color is just sanding, taping off and spraying.

its a single stage paint job. it will fade after a few years.

lol sorry the question marks is just a habit.


so is there anything wrong with a single stage? or is it just that it fades faster than others. will it help the fact that my cars already primered?

[opie_7afe]

a single stage paint job wont fade after a few years unless you neglect the paint. plenty of ways to make a single stage faded paint shine like glass....but all in all with maaco its all on who is actualy painting the car....and from what i have seen, they fail at prep work so i would prep it yourself then trailer it over to maaco and just tell them give it a wipe down with some grease/wax/tar remover and spray...the paint ive seen done at maaco looks like the skin of an orange,and usualy they dont sand the color coat to prep for clear, this leads to clear coat bubbling up/peeling off..i would ask around and find a good body shop that is not franchised, usualy they run about same price as maaco and can end up comming out way better. but as ive said its all down to who paints/preps the car...and there is nothing wrong with single stage but single stage will fade faster,scratches easier,(white single stage is the hardest single stage paint due to the titanium dioxide pigments), i would go with basecoat clearcoat paint job...but id just try to save up some more money and talk to the body shop and tell them what you want done as in the quality of work you want...good luck!

[SupraKid]

You get what you pay for with maaco. /story.

[LimitedGT4]

Talk to presure2 / many he works at a macco i believe

[pandakid]

i got my car painted at macco 500 dollar job.i just painted mine cause i was primered for 4 years.check out my profile

This post has been edited by pandakid: Aug 1, 2011 - 6:16 PM

[presure2]

Single stage paint can last along time, given its applied properly, and taken care of.
All Maaco are independently owned and operated, so its up to you to do the homework on the one you want to bring the car to.
Single stage is great for solid colors, red, white, black, all look great in single stage, provided the guy behind the gun knows how to make it look that way.
Metallic colors, and colors with pearls in them are not a good choice for single stage paint jobs. The fact that your spraying color, metallics, pearls, and clear, all at one time make the metallics and pearls do funky things, and they never have the depth or shine that a good basecoat clearcoat job will.
There are a few exceptions to the rule, dark metallics and most red metallics end up looking very good in single stage, but still don't have the depth of basecoat does.
The best advice I can give you that's Maaco specific is this.
Go in..look around at the finished work...ask to see the cars that are fresh out of the booth, that are similar to what your planning to spend.
If your going to get a single stage job, ask them for the integrated clear coat. It's basically extra clearcoat that is added in during the paint job, makes it a. Shine more and b. Last longer. If you haggle enough, you can usually get em to throw it in for free.
If there are any chips or dents that you want fixed, like the section of the lower front fender that tends to get a lot of rock chips..ect...be specific with what you want done.
Take your front bumper off, and low beams, take the tails out,mirrors, the rubbers around the doorhandles antenna, things like that...there is a long list of things that you can do yourself, that will make the job look better, and save money on labor time if you want a decent paint job.

[opie_7afe]

i agree with pressure2 100%...main thing with single stage metallic paints is this one simple thing...aluminum flake they use..you should know what aluminum even protected with polish does over time so immagine that on a small scale, takes alot of work when the flake becomes oxidized and dull...so id go with basecoat clear coat...just as pressure said the quality of paint work depends on the man behind the gun...sure better paints sometimes make it easier but a good painter can make any brand look and flow well..god i wish there was body shop schools local to me....

[Smaay]

definatly do the prep work and take all the pars off you sont want oversprayed. i had a Maaco do my supra and it looks like pure ass! they did very poor masking

[Nemises]

mine is maaco single stage. (check profile) I did the prep work myself though.

[Malhar95]

mine is maaco single stage. (check profile) I did the prep work myself though.

so the which one is from maaco, the white or the black?



thanks for all the advice.
my only concern is, that i understand that it best suggested that i prep the car up myself. but then again, i havent done it before and logically thnking, since they have more experience, wouldnt they do a better job than me?

i can take the small stuff out, but what about taping?


heres what i HAVE done when i was fixing my dings/dents.






and since i was 'learning' i guess they might have done some more prepping after i left it there for primer.



heres the end product.



note: yea ill take the taillights out this time





and presure2, if i take off my front bumper and headlights, wont it NOT match the body when the guy sprays it? i mean im scared that there will be a color difference when the guy sprays.

[6G96GT]

You just have to go in there and let them know you are getting the car painted for yourself because you want it and not to just quickly sell it. I had my car painted fall of 2009 and I paid $1500 with an extra gloss coat which is still warrantied. Anyway, the guy at the desk told me after we got talking that people bring their cars to him to spruce them up a bit before they sell em and they paint them that way (if it makes sense). Mine came out really nice but again, I told the guy I wanted it painted so it'll last for 'me'.

[presure2]

Every celica I paint for myself, or anyone I know gets painted bumper off.
No, as long as they spray it all at the same time, you don't have any worries about color matching.
Both of our cars were done @ Maaco. Jenn's is a higher end, basecoat clearcoat job, mine is a cheap single stage job.
Like I said. Go look at what the place local to you is putting out, dont be afraid to ask questions, they should be very willing to help you out and show you all around the shop.
If they don't, you don't want your car painted there.

[Malhar95]

Every celica I paint for myself, or anyone I know gets painted bumper off.
No, as long as they spray it all at the same time, you don't have any worries about color matching.
Both of our cars were done @ Maaco. Jenn's is a higher end, basecoat clearcoat job, mine is a cheap single stage job.
Like I said. Go look at what the place local to you is putting out, dont be afraid to ask questions, they should be very willing to help you out and show you all around the shop.
If they don't, you don't want your car painted there.

thanks for all the help!

[Malhar95]

So I went to two maacos in my area, looked around at their work, and see what everybody was talkin about the finishing work.


1st maaco: walked in, told him I had my car primerred for over a year and that I was interested in the 299$ paintjob they have. Rite there he said I won't warranty it cuz I have rust underneath it and I'm lucky that he's even painting my car. I told him to show me cars painted in that price range and showed me this truck.







There were some parts where paint was overlapped and it collected. Like it happened when I was spraying my valve covers
And the finishing was terrible. Paint on the corners of the headlights, on the chrome trim. And that "orange peel" look

After that I just walked out



Maaco 2:
Guy was nice but told me I need to pay 100$ more for prep. And when I asked him isn't that supposed to be include on the paint job his exact reply was "uuhh, well we're also putting that primer applicant that makes the paint stick to the primmer I have on"

I asked for some work they did, same problem with the finishing but not soo ba compared to the old one.

Heres a more expensive 800$ I think job





Still that "orange peel" look

What do u guys think worth it? Or should I just keep it and save for a better shop job And/or get suspension springs and struts?

[chacha]

keep looking

[pandakid]

i don't think its worth it,maybe try another maaco if it isn't to far.

[Nemises]

mine is maaco single stage. (check profile) I did the prep work myself though.

so the which one is from maaco, the white or the black?



thanks for all the advice.
my only concern is, that i understand that it best suggested that i prep the car up myself. but then again, i havent done it before and logically thnking, since they have more experience, wouldnt they do a better job than me?

i can take the small stuff out, but what about taping?


heres what i HAVE done when i was fixing my dings/dents.






and since i was 'learning' i guess they might have done some more prepping after i left it there for primer.



heres the end product.



note: yea ill take the taillights out this time





and presure2, if i take off my front bumper and headlights, wont it NOT match the body when the guy sprays it? i mean im scared that there will be a color difference when the guy sprays.

My fault the black one. It is not perfect however if it makes you feel better a few guys from the last meet decided to go Maaco because of my paint job. I got the 299.00 special a year ago paint still looks fresh. YOU JUST HAVE TO TAKE EXTRA CARE OF IT. No brushes high pressure wash only and keep it waxed. You cant expect a show quality paint. if your standards are to high you will be disappointed. For me I just wanted my car one color while I get everything perfect once my car is done I will get an expensive paint job.

They didnt spray my side mirrors or plate bezel and did a horrable job taping off the windows and for some reason only painted one key hole. WTF. But overall I was satisfied not impressd but satisfied. Hell for 300 bucks I was just hoping it was shinny.

A couple of more pics hard to see the black though

http://www.6gc.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=78191&hl=

[njccmd2002]

if you dont want orange peel, fork at leasr 3000 dollars.

what do you expect for less than 500 bucks.