Have you ever had a car painted by Maaco or Earl Scheib?

[cantdrv55]

My bug is going to need paint eventually and I don’t want to spend too much, maybe less than a grand. What kind of quality can I expect with that budget? Do those guys do a good job that’ll last a few years? Or I s it crap so might have to bump up my budget another thousand? I’m not looking for showroom quality but not crap either. My car is my dd around town only.

[vonsmog]

My brother had a few done by Earl Scheib. If you don't wash it first, they paint over the dirt! Not a good job at all. But he is in PA and any thru rust and it will not pass state inspection. You get what you pay for I guess.

[herr_oberst]

Maybe you could wrap it?

[sc_rufctr]

(Obviously) I've never heard of "Maaco or Earl Scheib" but if they can paint a car for less than a grand they must have some really skilled painters working for them.

I'd be more concerned about the quality of the paint they're using.

[Solamar]

Many years back (90's ?) I had my bug painted at Maaco. Very cheap.

I removed the glass and trim, and prepped the body (sanded and repaired any dings) and thought the paint job turned out wonderful (mexico blue).

No idea about today, but would suggest minimizing the prep they do.

[matthewb0051]

I knew a guy at my indy BMW mechanic that got a 2002 for free from the shop owner. He took it to one of those but I don't remember which we have.

It was done in its original white color. Looked very good. If they hadn't told me I would have not known it was painted nor where.

[908/930]

^^^ Like Solamar said, if you are willing to do some of the work it will help cost.

Good quality paint does cost, and any shop with a good painter has to pay him well. I have seen one Maaco job and I could see 60 grit sand marks through the paint, I pointed this out to the cars owner and he sent it back and they fixed it.

Last time I picked up some metallic silver base coat paint up here it was $120 Litre, require about 1.5L then add clear and hardeners. That was 10+ years ago.

[3rd_gear_Ted]

I had my VW painted in Tijuana Mexico.
They are true artisans not just out to make a buck.

https://www.yelp.com/search?cflt=bodyshops&find_loc=Tijuana%2C+Baja+California

[jcwade]

Back in the 70's, a friend had his station wagon painter by Earl for $29.95, (no ups, no extras).

They painted everything, including the wheels, hubcaps and chrome.

[stomachmonkey]

Not me personally but I've seen several.

The cheap paintjob is exactly that. You are paying them to spray some paint on the car, nothing more.

You can pay them to do prep and body work but that will cost more.

You can do the prep yourself and get a decent paintjob for a low price.

[Evans, Marv]

We had my wife's 2002 Camry painted the same color (red) at Maace around 2010/2011. She complained it had spots especially on the front from sand & pebble chips. They did a pretty good job for $800 at the time. I did notice a couple of scuff marks on some of the chrome(?) trim around the windows from the pads they used to rough up the old paint before painting.

[stomachmonkey]

Originally Posted by herr_oberst

Maybe you could wrap it?

A good wrap job needs the same prep as a paint job.

It's not necessarily demonstrably cheaper than paint.

For a bug it may actually be more, lots of round panels, harder to do than flat panels.

[asphaltgambler]

One of the last remaining Earl Scheib joints in Va, was In Richmond off of Broad St. Looked just like a car wash, where they had women (mostly), doing the taping / masking 1st, then the guys who scuffed it, then in another line doing spot body work. Then into the spray booth.

[Scott Douglas]

Back in the day the trick used to be do all the prep yourself, then take the car to whomever and pay the painter a few extra bucks on the side to lay on the paint nice. They paint cars all day long so getting them to take a little extra pride in the job shouldn't be that hard to do. And we all know, 90% of a good paint job is in the prep.

[rcooled]

Originally Posted by Solamar

...but would suggest minimizing the prep they do.

This is the key to getting a decent job from a cut-rate shop. On a Bug, you should remove the bumpers, bumper brackets, all lights & rubber gaskets, wipers, all chrome trim, emblems and door handles, radio antenna, running boards, and all the fixed glass & weatherstripping. Also remove the beading between the fenders & body and leave the fenders hanging loose on the bolts. Same for the rear license plate light housing.

You really don't have to do any of this, but any rubber or trim left on the car will stand a pretty good chance of having overspray on it, or being painted over completely. This is especially true for the fender beading and the rubber gaskets around the lights. And as already mentioned, be sure the car is brought to them clean.

I recently had a Honda Civic painted at a local cheapo shop (not Scheib or Maaco) and it actually turned out fairly decent. Not OEM quality by any means, but not too bad for a little over $2K, including some dent repair and no prep on my part.

[stomachmonkey]

What about dipping it?

That's a pretty cheap DIY solution.

Probably no more than $300 for a bug.

Fairly durable and removes easily.

It's what all the cool kids are doing.

https://www.dipyourcar.com

[unclebilly]

In 2002 as part of my journey into Porsche ownership, I fixed a Jag XJ12 that had rear ended a parked pickup.

I replaced the hood and front fender, fixed the rust, and sent it to Maaco to get repainted (I wasn’t set up to do it myself at the time and the local u-wrench with the spray booth was not available).

They painted over the pin stripes…

I refused to pick it up until they fixed it which they did. The car looked great afterwards and I traded it back to the guy who wrecked it for his Porsche 944…

[cabmandone]

Originally Posted by herr_oberst

Maybe you could wrap it?

For a grand? I don't see that happening. I was going to mess around and do my beater Taurus X in matte black vinyl just to give my son some more experience with vinyl wrapping. Cheapest I could find was around $700 for a good vinyl.

On topic,
I think my brother's old land cruiser was a Maaco job. Not great but it looked better than it did before it was painted.

[Otter74]

For a decent paint job, I think materials alone these days are something like double that.

[id10t]

So to throw this out there.... If you want to remain true to the Hippy freedom of the Bug,consider...

Brush paint it using chalkboard paint. Then when you park, leave a large container of sidewalk chalk on it with an invite to get creative.

We have a student here who has done this (not to a bug, some boring late 90s Jap import) but it is way cool. Good rainstorm wipes the slate clean. Talked to the guy once, cost him under $200 in supplies and a few cases of beer for a couple of friends...