has anyone had their car re-painted through MAACO with the ambassador paint job? If so, is it worth the few hundred that you pay for it??? Or should I try and find elsewhere?
i was thinking of getting the same thing. was also thinking, $300...you may get what you pay for. but i don't need a fantastic paint job. just a quick touch up. the only thing that may cost me a little more is getting the rear bumper and skirts done since they're different colors and need just a wee bit work done to 'em.
Yeah, I know what you mean with getting what you pay for, I'm just trying to look for BEST PRICE/BEST QUALITY you know? I also have body work to be done as well, I'm finally having my drift kit installed... it is used, so I want it to be touched up a bit for scratches here and there...
stay far far away from macco, save you money to have the car painted some where else
can i haz bondo
Lets just say you could prolly do a better job your first time in your home garage rather than what they will turn out for you.... Unless you know some people i haven't seen a quality paint job for under $1,000
I repainted my factory rear spoiler due to the clear flaking and half a pint of quality basecoat (DBC) cost me about $45.00. I already had the sealer and clearcoat luckily. I can't believe that for $300 you're gonna get anything other than a cheap single stage paint.
yeah, after reading the sticky about body works and such, and also reading older posts on MAACO, I'm beginning to have great doubts on their ability to provide me with a quality that I want... I'm not looking for a "showroom" quality, but I do want a paint job that isn't going to be sprayed on my windows, exhaust, and such...
not to meantion it will flake off in about 6 months
Honestly, it all depends on your local Maaco. Some try to do the best they can, and some try to do it the quickest they can. I've seen a few maaco paint jobs that pretty nice and some that were a little rough. I'm not sure what type of paint job they got at Maaco, but it was a single stage paint job. If you are looking for a real nice shinny durable finish, then it should cost you around a grand atleast; but if your just looking for something cheap then Maaco might be your answer. They buy their paint in huge bulk amounts, and that is why their paint jobs don't cost too much. I would imagine that with a 300 dollar paint job they will tape it off, scuff, and one layer and shes out the door. Because of this it will not look perfect, but you can't expect it to look that way. And I've heard to watch out for hidden costs with the cheaper paint jobs, they try to get as much out of you as possible. Not the most durable or best quality, but you get what you pay for. I would seriously just go down to your local maaco and go check out the cars they just painted, they are usually sitting in their lot and they will let you go look at them most of the time. And I would go to the better business bureau online to see if there are any remarks on that maaco close to you. Whenever I decide to paint my beater, it will probably be going there.
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they dont mask anything very well. overspray out the ass. not to mention you will see the original color in every gap of the panels, under the hood, in the door jams, etc. i knew somebody who had a red cav painted gunmetal through that service and every single window was outlined in red. not to mention the metalic flaking in the new paint came off onto my hands everytime i touched the car.
yeah, i'm actually not going to be changing the color of my car... i want it to stay the same green that it is, I just have some scratches and crap that I would like cleaned up as well as the drift kit I am going to be putting on. So I'm not too worried about door jams and such just because those will be the same color still. All the same, I think I'm gonna look around a bit more as well as check out some of the cars in MAACO's lot just to see for myself...
they painted my sideskirts (hated em unpainted and had no hooks for a real paint job) the paint on them lasted less than 3 months before the started chipping due to lack of flex additive.
to put it into perspective.... i paid $1000 just to have my full kit painted back when i had a full kit. and that was with an employee discount because i know somebody that worked at the dealership i got it done at. I had it done in a pontiac dealership bodyshop and the paint came out looking as good or better than new cars look out of the factory. you get what you pay for. MAACO will use a single stage paint with very little clear coat and no flex agent... first time a pebble hops off the freeway and taps your front bumper, you'll have a spiderweb in your paint. my front bumper is cleared so much that it deflect rocks without ever chipping. well worth the extra money i spent, because now i dont have to repaint it every year.
Hmm odd as the Maaco down the street from me turns out some damn nice stuff ! But like someone else said it all depends on which Maaco you go to. Just check out some of their work and if it looks good go for it ! Take a buddy along who knows a little as to what hes looking at / for so you can get a second opinion. The one near me does show cars and full restorations so maybe they're special or something the way some of these guys are ragging them.
Semper Fi SAINT. May you rest in peace.
they dont prep anything, if you get a good prep on your car the paintjob should'nt be too bad.
Sand the clear off the car and feather your chips out and you should be ok.
i didn't think they would do any prep work. not for $300 anyways. i'm half tempted to do it myself. just need to get the tools and materials and find a place i can rent to do it. i don't have a garage and i sure ain't gonna do it outside.
Not worth the risk of a bad paintjob IMHO... and most of them don't mask them off well at all.
So if you want to take that chance and don't mind overspray, ok.
BTW... EVERY paintjob needs SOME sort of prep work. You can't bring in a car, and just tape it up and spray it... it needs sanded or the paint will not stick... period.
They do do SOME prepwork, but it's crappy 99% of the time and doesn't last for crap
I do not know about out here in Cali, but back home I would not even think about bringing in my old wagon from when I was a kid to Maaco. They just suck a$$ with straws while having hershery squirts.
[quote=¤§Fallen Angel§¤]BTW... EVERY paintjob needs SOME sort of prep work. You can't bring in a car, and just tape it up and spray it... it needs sanded or the paint will not stick... period.
They do scuff the cars before painting them. I have noticed that there is a lot of overspray on the cars though, if you do go with them I would say it wouldn't hurt to tape down some stuff yourself beforehand with some painters tape or something just to be safe.
And do yourself a favor and don't even try to do it yourself. The amount of money that you will spend on the equipment alone will equal the cost of the paint job at maaco, and it is really not as easy as one would think. It takes a lot of time and practice to get it down where it looks half-way good, and thats why people go to schools for that stuff. AND...maaco's paint IS known to flake off pretty easy after 2 years, or even earlier.
Proud member of Jbody of Kentucky ... Click on sig to go!
I have heard BAAAAD things about Maaco. They use cheap paint and paint quickly without much care, from what I have heard.
I was happy when I heard my car ran 10s. Then I found out that was 0-60.
We had a car come into the shop once that was done at Maaco... it had a little dent on the quarter, nothing big right? Well... when we went to pull out the little dent, the paint LITERALLY started falling off. Picked up a piece of paint, and behold... there was NO primer on the metal at all... none.
Okay, I've officially been talked out of taking my car to MAACO... thanks for all the input and advice!
It sounds liek you jsut need to prep it yourself and possibly bring them the paint and jsut pay them to spray it
"Louis, you better watch who you call a child. Because if I'm a child,
that makes you a pedafile, and I'm not gonna stand here and argue
with a pervert" -- Peter Griffin
Mat Cacciatore wrote:It sounds liek you jsut need to prep it yourself and possibly bring them the paint and jsut pay them to spray it
Except for most of the shops will not touch a car someone else worked on because of liability issues. What if it wasn't sanded right and the paint flaked off in a spot or two?
