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$199 half price Maaco paint job
Posted: Mon Feb 11, 2008 11:02 pm
by jT
I dont know if it is half price everywhere but I saw the commercial on TV tonight.
It's almost tempting because I really want to dump this silver color, but I've read all the threads about Maaco and getting what you pay for and everything.. I guess now you'd get only half a paint job :-p
Posted: Mon Feb 11, 2008 11:10 pm
by glasswars
My car was sprayed at Maaco... everything is perfect.
Then again I prepped the whole car.
Posted: Mon Feb 11, 2008 11:40 pm
by lolelectricbluesxt
They didn't even wash our Mustang before they painted it..
Posted: Mon Feb 11, 2008 11:48 pm
by J-Villa
i've scene some good jobs go out, then i've scene OMFG the actually gave that back to someone?!?!
Posted: Tue Feb 12, 2008 1:21 am
by yellowpatrol
I've used Maaco 3 times and been unhappy all three. The first two were to fix up the rear end after someone backed into my car while it was parked in the street, and then again when someone side swiped me, in the exact same spot. Here are the results of those times:
Notice they only cleaned the part of the car they were working on:
They took a month to fix the car because they kept messing up. Once they finally got it done it looked like this:
The third time was when they painted my SRT hood, which they didn't butcher as badly, but that's because I took just the hood in and they had no taping to do. The hood has runs in the clear coat that look like permanent water drops, but I didn't dare take it back and let them have another shot and messing it up. No pics of this though.
Posted: Tue Feb 12, 2008 3:25 am
by jT
from a distance those pics dont look bad for a paint job.. was that the cheapest Maaco job?
Posted: Tue Feb 12, 2008 9:12 am
by kornholio788
People you are paying 200 for a full paint job. Expect it to look like 200 dollars worth of material and labor. The clear on my car that I used was 200 alone!!!! Think of how s$$$ty and thin the material is that they can be buyin the material and paying the painters 15 an hour to paint your car. DONT DO IT!!!!!!
Posted: Tue Feb 12, 2008 9:24 am
by He Hate Me
wow yellowpatrol... they gave you the shaft...
Posted: Tue Feb 12, 2008 10:01 am
by jT
kornholio788 wrote:People you are paying 200 for a full paint job. Expect it to look like 200 dollars worth of material and labor.
was just bringing this to the attention of the masses, much like free pancake day. dont blow a gasket over it.
Posted: Tue Feb 12, 2008 10:09 am
by kornholio788
He Hate Me wrote:wow yellowpatrol... they gave you the shaft...
No they gave him a 200 dollar job.
was just bringing this to the attention of the masses, much like free pancake day. dont blow a gasket over it.
I am not blowing a gasket over it. I am just trying to save you guys from having them fuck up your cars. I work in the automotive paint industry. I supply paints to body shops. And I am warning you to NOT go there. I have seen quite a few jobs come from them and I just couldn't believe it. But hey. If you wanna have them spray you car go right ahead. But don't go postin how they f%%%ed it up when you get your car back with terrible orange peel, massive overspray, runs, dirt, ect. 200 dollars should be the cost of your clear coat and your basecoat at the most. NOT a full job. Like I said. I have 200 in my clear coat ALONE!!!!
Posted: Tue Feb 12, 2008 10:29 am
by Hudson_Neon
i've done jobs before that required $500-$600 in just materials.
Posted: Tue Feb 12, 2008 10:46 am
by hansken_yo
From what i've been told, a good paintjob should run about $3000 or more ( or more is for specialty paint jobs obviously).
Posted: Tue Feb 12, 2008 10:57 am
by kornholio788
Hudson_Neon wrote:i've done jobs before that required $500-$600 in just materials.
500-600 in materials is a little on the cheap side if you are getting EVERYTHING. Including primers, base, clear, reducers, harnders, ect. But it can be done and can turn out for a great job. But 200 for material AND labor is crazy. Even with my discount I couldn't pull that off with my cheapest shit. I can't even imagine what they use....
Posted: Tue Feb 12, 2008 11:01 am
by Hudson_Neon
kornholio788 wrote:Hudson_Neon wrote:i've done jobs before that required $500-$600 in just materials.
500-600 in materials is a little on the cheap side if you are getting EVERYTHING. Including primers, base, clear, reducers, harnders, ect. But it can be done and can turn out for a great job. But 200 for material AND labor is crazy. Even with my discount I couldn't pull that off with my cheapest shit. I can't even imagine what they use....
oh, well i was on the repair end. not the "repaint" end. we're talkin sectioning quarter panels and blending the paint and all that.
Posted: Tue Feb 12, 2008 11:07 am
by MyNeonSaysHi

Reminds me of a friend at school that had an 03 SXT. It got repainted at Maaco. It looks soooooooooooooo crappy. Paint runs EVERYWHERE. Put your hand over it and its not smooth at all, has a bumpy texture.
Posted: Tue Feb 12, 2008 11:08 am
by yellowpatrol
kornholio788 wrote:He Hate Me wrote:wow yellowpatrol... they gave you the shaft...
No they gave him a 200 dollar job.
Whoa, not quite buddy! I didn't pay for this $200 bargain paint job. This was insurance work after my two accidents that cost nearly $2000.
Posted: Tue Feb 12, 2008 11:08 am
by SteelBlue
Yeah, you have to be VERY careful with Maaco since they don't do any of the proper prep work. Yes its pretty inexpensive for the consumer but you have to wonder how thin they are doing their coats since they have to make money somewhere. Paint is not cheap, even for body shops or suppliers.
My husband works for a body shop that just hired a former maaco painter and they're having to teach him all over again. Basic things like proper masking and spraying techniques are beyond this guy.

He doesn't even know the correct way to wash a car, no joke.
Posted: Tue Feb 12, 2008 11:09 am
by Hudson_Neon
MyNeonSaysHi wrote:
Reminds me of a friend at school that had an 03 SXT. It got repainted at Maaco. It looks soooooooooooooo crappy. Paint runs EVERYWHERE. Put your hand over it and its not smooth at all, has a bumpy texture.
^fisheyes, dust, other crap. probably not painted in a booth. can you say $200?
Posted: Tue Feb 12, 2008 12:58 pm
by bone-yard-racing
A lot of these problems look/sound like somthing that could be fixed with a simple but time consuming wet sand and buff job.
Please dont take body work advice from sombody whose idea of a quality paint job involves the word krylon

Posted: Tue Feb 12, 2008 1:29 pm
by Adionik
My paint materials usually run me $300 for the whole car
Posted: Tue Feb 12, 2008 1:40 pm
by MyNeonSaysHi
Hudson_Neon wrote:MyNeonSaysHi wrote:
Reminds me of a friend at school that had an 03 SXT. It got repainted at Maaco. It looks soooooooooooooo crappy. Paint runs EVERYWHERE. Put your hand over it and its not smooth at all, has a bumpy texture.
^fisheyes, dust, other crap. probably not painted in a booth. can you say $200?
The runs were visible. you can actually see the the paint running down the car and ends in a blob. wipe it off with your hand? Nah its paint! From a distance you don't notice it at all... If I ever get my car repainted in the far far future I will be looking at around $5k.
Posted: Tue Feb 12, 2008 4:15 pm
by rOniN
wow...I think my grandpa could do a better job with some house paint and a roller
Posted: Tue Feb 12, 2008 4:31 pm
by yellowpatrol
rOniN wrote:wow...I think my grandpa could do a better job with some house paint and a roller
lmfao
Posted: Tue Feb 12, 2008 4:39 pm
by KrackstaR
glasswars wrote:My car was sprayed at Maaco... everything is perfect.
Then again I prepped the whole car.
same here i prepped my car too and they painted the entire outside of the car including kit, hell ive even won best paint awards too..lol

macco FTW..
But my paint job cost $1100 tho so i wouldnt recommend there cheapest paint job.
Posted: Tue Feb 12, 2008 4:42 pm
by yellowpatrol
You can't really say that all of one company is bad when it comes to this type of thing. It just seems to be a trend that s$$tty painters work at Maacos, but in cases like Krack's and glasswars's the painters were decent.
Posted: Tue Feb 12, 2008 8:02 pm
by jrumann59
Do a search for Maaco reviews. Also keep in mind complaining to corporate is going to get you nowhere, corporate just whores out the name each shop is different and it depends on who is running the shop.
Posted: Tue Feb 12, 2008 8:35 pm
by Hudson_Neon
MyNeonSaysHi wrote:Hudson_Neon wrote:MyNeonSaysHi wrote:
Reminds me of a friend at school that had an 03 SXT. It got repainted at Maaco. It looks soooooooooooooo crappy. Paint runs EVERYWHERE. Put your hand over it and its not smooth at all, has a bumpy texture.
^fisheyes, dust, other crap. probably not painted in a booth. can you say $200?
The runs were visible. you can actually see the the paint running down the car and ends in a blob. wipe it off with your hand? Nah its paint! From a distance you don't notice it at all... If I ever get my car repainted in the far far future I will be looking at around $5k.
well that's fixed with some wet sanding and buffing and hoping that you don't cur through
Posted: Tue Feb 12, 2008 8:56 pm
by slaw
i plan on getting my kit and spoiler re done there
hope all goes well lol
Posted: Tue Feb 12, 2008 8:57 pm
by MoxHair
i think the dealership who repainted my car used maaco
Posted: Tue Feb 12, 2008 9:08 pm
by yellowpatrol
slaw63087 wrote:i plan on getting my kit and spoiler re done there
hope all goes well lol
As long as you take them in separately and don't just put them on the car and take the whole thing in you should be fine.