Hey all,im thinking about getting one of those 250 dollar maaco special paintjobs on my truck. i take my truck off road alot,and its built for that(take a look at my gallery)so im not concerned about a super super perfect job,im doing this to just primarily get some of the spots that are rusting through all over covered up.Has anybody got any paint work done by maaco? are they as bad as a few people have told me? thanks in advane

 

Their paint jobs had a lot of orange peel to them. I have also found that maaco doesn't tape off as well as they should, and their paint jobs will fade in a year.

 

Maaco probably won't even wash the car first. The last maaco job we had peeled off in a few weeks, revealing the dirt they never cleaned off..... I'd spend the money and get it done right.

 

I heard that Maaco is where bodymen and painters go to learn how to do their work.

Okay, that's not true.

But everybody has to learn somewhere. A painter buddy of mine learned how to paint there. He told me a lot of painters did the same. And for $250, the car owner can't really complain, because you get what you pay for.

Definitely better than a back yard paint job, but no where near a high end paint job.

 

Im not really worried about it not being a high end paintjob,its gonna get scratched anyway off road,but if itll peel off like posted above,itll be a defenite no go

 

Mudder, if you have access to a spray gun, and you use single stage acrylic you can paint it yourself... Just keep the dust down, and make sure the area is well ventilated. You will also need a VERY good air compressor.

 

I'm assuming all Maaco's aren't alike. Friends had their '77 F150 repainted at the local Maaco in Gresham, Or. Wasn't the $250 special, more like $500, and they removed bumpers/chrome trim/etc before they took it over. Repainted original color over a year ago, still looks fine. Overall, probably close to the original factory quality (keeping in mind paint wasn't that great back then).

edit: no bodywork was done, and it was the typical no-rust Nwst truck.

 

I know guys who used to wait for a clean dry day after a rain, scuff sand and wash their vehicles, drive to Maaco or Earl Scheib, pull the trim and tape the important stuff themselves, then get the cheapo job (back then it was $100).

Look around for somebody who used to work for maaco but went and started his own biz. usualyy they'll cost $100 more but do a better job. Many times the better body shops will know of the "quality cheapo" shops and recommend them for your type of job. Or one of their own guys might moonlight doing the same. Worth a try.

 

I wouldn't have them do any body work unless you don't care about it. Instead of cutting rusted panels out of my former Bronco, they welded new panels over the rusted ones. 6 months later, the rust came back through twice. I didn't have a problem with the paint though.

Bluehawk

 

how much would the paints cost for the spray gun tho?

 

I can get enough royal blue, and thinner to paint a full size cargo van for $250 to $300. It's a PPG factory run off.

 

Are you serious? That ain't right. Talk about taking pride in your work. I would have made them do it over properly.

 

I did twice. Didn't do any good. The first time I dropped it off on Monday, was supposed to have it back on Friday. They just forgot to tell me it would be Friday in 3 weeks. Took 2 weeks till they even touched it. Then, each time I took it back, I was without my truck for 2 weeks.

Bluehawk

 

My friend works for Maaco here and I had to give him a ride when the temps got to -20. I saw a car they painted and it had so much dirt on it, the damn thing looked like a chia pet. Avoid Maaco and look into doing it yourself, it'll cost the same and you'll know the quality will be better.

 

I had a real bad experience with my 77 F-150. I took it there because I had just got done replacing a fender so I though the whole truck needed painting. The pain already on it was very good except for the un-painted fender. I mean the clear coat was good and no rust...probably only a couple years old when I purchased the truck in 2001. Well, I disregarded what everybody was saying and took it to Maaco. They said it would be about 4 days but wound up being exactly 2 weeks. They agreed on having some minor bodywork done to it also. There was on top of the cab (both sides), on the cab corners, and on the bed near the bumper. They did 2 of the 3 but forgot the bed...got charged for it though.

Now, onto the paint. They painted the truck but didn't mask the engine, wheelwells, INTERIOR, or anything else. They told me afterwards if I had wanted it masked then I would have to pay them extra or do it myself! The wheelwells were all painted up and my tires/wheels were too. The motor had overspray all over the chrome breather and valve covers not to mention the FRESH black innerfenders and motor compartment that I painted myself. The interior was COVERED in overspray. My brand new Grant GT steering wheel, my cd player, dash, dash pad, gauge plexi-glass, and all over my new factory spec vinyl seat. It took about a month to fix what they screwed up. The paint has the worst ORANGE PEEL I've ever seen. I look at it at night and I about cry. Also, there is some places where the paint cracked, chipped and is so rough its like they painted sand paper.

They also don't prep your vehicle worth a damn. They don't sand anything unless you specifically instruct them to. They don't use primer...they use clear sealer. If you have pinstriping, they will leave it on and paint over it. Their excuse: it gives us a good template for the new pinstriping. Cost to remove old: $50 per panel.

The day I picked my truck up they said it was ready but it wasn't. They hadn't re-installed my chrome bed rails or anything yet. But before they brought me my truck I heard it fire up and get revved to about 4k or so. Then I heard tires squealing and here came my truck with the radio BLAIRING. They had no idea I was around back or they wouldn't have done that. I also brough the truck there with 3/4 tank of gas and picked it up with about a 1/4 of a tank. They had put over 100 miles on my truck! I have the mileage wrote down somewhere because I got very angry when I picked up my truck. They said they had to get supplies at a local parts store. No wonder the inside of my bed was scratched.

All in all, $1,400 wasted.