I've heard that the reason MAACO paintjobs suck so bad is that they don't prep enough (or at all).

Now I know that they are all independently owned, but in general, what should I do before I get the $400 paint special? Do they use crappy paint too?

I'm not skilled/set up for/ambitious enough to paint it myself, and the rattle-can black is getting to me. BUT I really don't think this car is worth a $2000+ paint job.


What to do?

 

Well, without being a search ****, actually doing a search would of brought up hundreds of answers.

But, i sometimes find my questions unanswered after a search, so its cool.

Anyways, there a couple of diff ways to look at it.

The first is obvious, you get what you pay for. I have found the biggest problem with maaco is the prep work they do, or the lack there of. If you can find someone to help you do any body work and prep it for paint, it will turn out much nicer.

When i say prep, i mean, be prepared to remove lights when you get there, otherwise their complete lack of masking skill will be evident when you get the car back.

If i was going to go maaco. I would do all the body/prep work. And i would at least opt for the package that included a sep clear coat, non of the integrated crap.

 

I had my Formula painted by maaco last spring, and my brother had a 86 Firebird painted at the same one. we did all the prep work ourselves, basically we removed all the old wax, sanded any imperfections smooth (rock chips, nicks in paint or runs) and removed all decals ourselves ( my Formula took 11-12 hours).
then when we got the car there we removed the marker lights, taillights, turnsignals. i forgot to remove the screen in my hood scoop (from a 83 T/A) and they painted that body color i ended up removing it and repainting it black. here's a couple pix of my Formula sorry no pix of bro's 86.

 

Yah, I did a search, but all I got was people saying that they suck and don't go to them. I needed more of an answer, like what you guys gave. Thanks!


So I guess my next question would be, who is satisfied with MAACO's work?

 

Yeah, that's the popular opinion on this board. Some people don't realize that not everyone can afford a $4000 paintjob for a $1200 car.

You figure they probably paint several cars every day. Guys that have worked there a while have painted hundreds or thousands of cars. Even with a really slow learning-curve, they'd have to be pretty good at painting. The problem is usually with the prep work (which you can do yourself) and the quality of the actual paint. I just bought enough materials (DuPont) to do my door jambs and under the hood & hatch and it cost as much as one of their economy paint jobs. They HAVE to use cheap paint to do it for that price. But they do give you a warranty on their paint.

You could ask if you could buy your own materials and have them just shoot the car using your paint. They probably won't warranty it, but I'd rather have DuPont or Spies Hecker paint than generic Maaco paint. If you prep the car and have them shoot the car with good paint, I'd imagine it would turn out really well.