Tell me about Maaco paint jobs

[WolfeMacleod]

Don't ask why, Just tell me what you know about Maaco and the quality of their paint and/or body , prep work, etc.

[Por_sha911]

You get what you pay for. Period, paragraph.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

My understanding is that if you give them the paint, your quality paint, they will do a good job. And some say some kind of upfront tip works wonders.

Makes sense, they paint cars all day long, 5 days a week. They've got the rhythm and control that takes time to learn.

[masraum]

I thought that was one of those places where "masking" was extra. Yeah, for $99 they'll paint your car, but if you want them to mask the stuff that's not supposed to be painted, that's not included. But I don't have personal experience with that.

[RANDY P]

Varies by shop- we had one nearby that used to just do great work- when you pay them to. It was Burien Maaco, FYI. Dunno if they still do quality work, but they used to get a lot of cars.

If you think about it, if all you do all day, every day is handle a paint gun, you'll get pretty good after awhile.

rjp

[Heel n Toe]

Look through local Yelp and/or BBB reviews of local Maaco shops. Go by the place and ask to be shown some recently completed vehicles.

About 3 years ago, I took the wife's '94 Camry to them for the $279 special... it's a dark green metallic. They turned a rough looking car into a 5-10 footer. Masking left nothing to be desired. No runs. No orange peel.

That's where they excel, IMO... bringing an older car to where it's very presentable again... if you're gonna compare it to a paint job costing 5-10 times more, not so much.

[dafischer]

From what I hear, if you deliver them the car, all bodywork done, in prime & masked, they can shoot a nice paint job for a somewhat reasonable price. YMMV

[Dantilla]

Some are good, some are,..... so-so.

Go look at the lot where freshly-painted cars await being picked up by the customers. That will tell you what you need to know about that individual location's prep and masking.

Had a pick-up sprayed by Maaco, came out looking way better than expected. Crisp masking lines, zero overspray in wheel wells, etc. Very impressed. Also had them squirt a second color on the race car to two-tone it prior to graphics.

Went back later with a Miata. Ownership had changed, quality was lacking.

I'm okay with taking a used daily driver-type car or race car to Maaco, not going to bring them anything that has to be really nice.

[t-tom]

We have one here in Kansas City that a lot of the land cruiser guys use. I've seen some really nice cruisers they have painted.

[John Rogers]

If the value of the car is only a thousand or two then it makes no sense to spend lots of money on a paint job! Sort of like a race car, such as a 914 or 924 or 944 or something. That is why many southern CA folks used to go to Tijuana and get work done by Garage Los Ponchos as they were 50% or so of the price in CA and now the Mexican Dupont paint is better than US based paint!

[Christien]

I was once told that anyone can learn to spray paint fairly quickly, but it takes real talent to do body work to prep the car. So I think a lot has to do with the condition of to body to begin with.

My 911 had a Maaco job done by the guy I bought it from. Having been through every last inch of the car, I know exactly where the overspray is and isn't. In general, it's not a bad paint job, though there are some notable flaws. They didn't mask the side mirror, so what was once chrome is now red. There was light overspray over the side windows, though that came off fairly easily with a razor blade. They (or the PO) removed all the rubber trim pieces, rather than mask them, so they're nice and clean (they were in a box when I bought the car). The bits that were masked were done pretty well. A few spots were missed, but even a year or so after the fact, the paint comes off with a bit of rubbing compound and a rag, with very little effort.

The big downside is that the quality of the paint isn't great, so my front hood has a ton of rock chips - it chips very easily. I've also got some small chips in the doors from very lightly bumping things in the garage - stuff that wouldn't at all show on a car with a better paint job.

Now that my paint looks like that, I'd probably have it done again, because it's a 5 footer already. I also think of what I could do mechanically for the cost of a proper paint job ($5-10k - I could rebuild and hotrod my engine for that) and I just can't justify spending that much on paint.

[Yorkie]

My 911S was done at One Day Paint. We bought the correct Albert Blue paint, stripped out the windows, interior and trim then had them paint it. Came out really nice but obviosuly not as nice as the $10K paint jobs. No runs. No Peel. No thin spots. No masking issues as the car was stripped. I've done this for a few cars over the years (TR6, P1800, '59 T-Bird) and would do it again.

[A930Rocket]

In Atlanta, I used them plenty of time years ago, but we used to strip the car of parts and pieces and even wet sand them sometimes. They came out very well.

Used one in Charlotte, NC and the paint job sucked but it was my 10 year old Nissan work truck I was selling.

Now I'm thinking of re-painting my 1991 BMW 318is some the original paint has faded and been worn down with buffing.

[IROC]

I used Maaco to paint an old 4Runner years ago. Out the door, the entire paint job cost $400. Best $400 I ever spent. Was it perfect? No, but it was perfectly fine for my needs.

A Porsche buddy was the one who recommended Maaco at the time. He said that each Maaco is independently owned and that the quality of the job varies from Maaco to Maaco. I went in and asked to see some of the cars they had in progress and they were happy to take me back and show me what they were working on. They seemed genuinely conscientious and actually did a really good job on my 4Runner. I kept if for about 4 years after it was painted and the paint held up fine - no complaints.

[CHICKS]

I had my 81' T/A WS6 painted the factory color and they did a pretty good job. I did all the prep, all they did was mask and paint. Came out pretty nice, besides a little over spray. No runs, or orange peel. My dad had his 66' type 1 done as well, and only issue with his was that one fender was sprayed too thin, but IIRC they took care of it. I would Maaco again.

[gamin]

I've had 3 vehicles painted by Maaco in the past. Considering the price I was well pleased. As above not perfect but sure good enough. The paint held up well. One was red and didn't fade in 10 years.

[NY65912]

They're a franchise, they are body shops with a national name. I just had my daughter's Jetta front bumper supplied and painted by a Maaco and I was very pleased and i'm a PITA.

Years ago I had a '70 KG done by a Maaco. I did all the bodywork and prep. They masked (very well). I tipped the manager and the painter before the work was done with the promise of more $ if the job came out nice. It did, very nice. Nice enough that I was proud to put the car into local shows and it always showed very well. Not shabby for $200 back in 1982.

[Tobra]

Depends. There is one in this area, North Highlands, that does pretty darn good work.

[540964]

I saw them paint over a maple leaf on the trunk lid once. Many years ago.

[mikesride]

They are franchised I believe. The one in my town will do the $499.00 special if that's what you want...I have also seen some very nice full restos come out of the same shop.