Anyone have any experience with them? Heard their paint jobs suck.. but also haven't know anyone thats got the most expensive one they have. Also how are they at painting individual body parts i.e. fenders or a bumper?

all maaco's are different. ive heard of people going there and having a very shitty paint job, but, i have also known people who have gone and recieved a very good paint job for the money.

the one we have here in pcola is crap, ive had my friends have about a dozen cars painted there and so far they've all been dull and flaked, along with bad overspray and bare spots in the paint, but its true they are all different, and it depends on the pride the actuall painter has in his work, talk to the sprayer and see what they think they can do for you, personally I went to one of the top places here and I love the job and wouldn't trade it for anything, but then again you get what you pay for so dont expect a cheap paintjob to be great, although it may be decent

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97 RS-T, STAR Stage 2, Decah Lambo Doors, 19" Axis Hiros, Built 420a

Any paint job thats under $250 is pure FUCKING JUNK

I worked out of Orlando. I can account for what I've seen and my personal experiences. In FL, to move cars (which is what body shops do) an average painter can not battle humidity. Not every shop has the perfect oven, or in most independent shops frankly do not have an oven with a zero humidity atmosphere. If your buddy can crank out paint jobs with zero blemishes, hey more power to him. I try to share my knowledge here in generic form. There are plenty of people who actually like painting mini-vans and can not afford to pay a detailer to fix mistakes. When it comes to Maaco prep, there is probably everybody on the planet who can do a better job. Maaco painters in most cases have to get it right the first time when using a single stage paint. I'm basically tired of people over the past years come on this board who have basically zero knowledge of the industry passing on opinions of things they once saw from a "buddy". Yes, I have come into shops where painters are drunk or getting the weekend started early (usually on a Thursday). All your Maaco's have policies that are not as "flexible" as independent shops. Maaco painters, though usually not as educated, are more consistent IN MY EXPERIENCES. They can produce a better than average job when being pressured to shoot 10 cars in a day in a multipe booth shop. I agree with you CustomGS in many ways. I don't give a shit about Maaco personally. I probably woudn't have anything painted there, b/c independent shops are more willing to work out a better deal with you with a more quaility material. If you really want to save some money do it yourself for about $300-$400 of good materials plus the cost to rent a booth and oven over a weekend from a local shop. Also, 3M pads are typically recommended when cutting in replacement parts for paint. If anybody was using a bunch of "red" or "green" sanding pads to prep a whole car they'd be broke, D/A sandpaper is much cheaper.

Originally posted by Erik
I worked out of Orlando. I can account for what I've seen and my personal experiences. In FL, to move cars (which is what body shops do) an average painter can not battle humidity. Not every shop has the perfect oven, or in most independent shops frankly do not have an oven with a zero humidity atmosphere. If your buddy can crank out paint jobs with zero blemishes, hey more power to him. I try to share my knowledge here in generic form. There are plenty of people who actually like painting mini-vans and can not afford to pay a detailer to fix mistakes. When it comes to Maaco prep, there is probably everybody on the planet who can do a better job. Maaco painters in most cases have to get it right the first time when using a single stage paint. I'm basically tired of people over the past years come on this board who have basically zero knowledge of the industry passing on opinions of things they once saw from a "buddy". Yes, I have come into shops where painters are drunk or getting the weekend started early (usually on a Thursday). All your Maaco's have policies that are not as "flexible" as independent shops. Maaco painters, though usually not as educated, are more consistent IN MY EXPERIENCES. They can produce a better than average job when being pressured to shoot 10 cars in a day in a multipe booth shop. I agree with you CustomGS in many ways. I don't give a shit about Maaco personally. I probably woudn't have anything painted there, b/c independent shops are more willing to work out a better deal with you with a more quaility material. If you really want to save some money do it yourself for about $300-$400 of good materials plus the cost to rent a booth and oven over a weekend from a local shop. Also, 3M pads are typically recommended when cutting in replacement parts for paint. If anybody was using a bunch of "red" or "green" sanding pads to prep a whole car they'd be broke, D/A sandpaper is much cheaper.

:thumbsup I hear ya bro. Then again thats why i paid so much for him to shoot it, I did however save a good deal by doing my own prep. Its also why he doesnt gross as much as a maaco would. Time, time, time.

I got mine done there about 10 months ago. I got the middle package, i think it cost like 500 dollars. When I got it back it had bubbles in the paint. I asked them about it and they just tell you to bring it back in a few months and they can take them out. Besides that though, My paint job came out very good. (can never get it lookin that way tho cause its a black car). But like said above, this will vary on each macco and on the sprayer himself.

bottomline if ur paint is horribly messed up and just want something temporary go to macco . if you want sho quality results or you are modifying your car . dont go to macco

Maaco has done my hatch, spoiler, rear & front bumpers, and they did a damn good job. Flows with the OEM paint perfectly

I found receipts from Maaco in my glovebox when I bought it. Apparently they painted my front bumper, and a fender. They both look good unless you get up really close, they're bother a little duller than the stock paint, but like I said, you have to be 2 inches away to tell.

I've seen really good paint jobs come out of maaco before but as they said it depends on the sprayer and what kind of mood he is in. Give him a candy bar and tell him you love him.

www.cardomain.com/id/vtecthis18 thats my boys old car the day it was painted at macco
97 RS-T, STAR Stage 2, Decah Lambo Doors, 19" Axis Hiros, Built 420a

Dont be an idiot. Your going to cause yourself future frustration when you go to re paint it the right way trust me. The only time you should ever use maaco is if you have a peice of shit daily driver that you just want all one color. It will come out Orange peel texture, It will chip off very easily, and they will overspray on everything. If they over spray on your molding, due to the fact that they rush the tape job, Then you will have to replace all your molding when you go to repaint the right way. Do you have any idea how expensive it is to replace the molding on our cars.You cant just replace the moldings,its all new rear windows. You can make your own decisions but trust me it will end up costing you more in the end.

If you absolutely must put your car through that massacre, Then I strongly advise you to DO YOUR OWN PREP AND TAPE OFF and then have it wet sanded when its done and it will come out ok. All they do is scuff your existing paint with a scuff pad and shoot it.

EDIT* Individual body peices should be ok as long as you do your on prep and then have it wet sanded afterwords.

yea for real . your better off spraying it yourself

Also what you need to understand is maaco does piece work meaning. The guy who gets the job is getting paid a set amount for however long they believe the job is worth. So if he is getting $200 for a job that should take 8 hours according to maaco. If he can finish it in 4 hours thats even better for him because he can move onto another job and still collect his $200 for what would have been 8 hours of work. It all depends on the shop though and the people that work there. Usually good paint guys are at real shops and not a chain paint shop such as maaco but sometimes you have a few good painters that will have to goto maaco for reasons to be unknown. But your better off finding a real shop or experimenting yourself

Some of these paint questions really kill me... I've worked in the industry and I can honestly tell that more than half of these guys here have never refinished a car. Maaco will in fact shoot any kind of paint you ask for. I've seen House shot in there. Just like any refinisher, you pay for what you get. Paint in fact does "stick" better to old paint and NOT to primarly to primer of any sort. Most primers are not used properly anyway. Orange peel is usually in every single paint job. If you can find a painter that can shoot a whole car with no peel, he should quit and play the lottery. You usually do not see it b/c the detailer color-sands it out OR the buffer with a high amount of abrasive removes it. The molding issue I personally have seen from Maaco. But again, you get what you pay for. My honest opinion is that Maaco painters are usually better than regular shops. They do it all day long, and really know thier equipment. They are also watched and evaluated upon their work, rather than independent shops who most of the time pray that their pre-maddona painter shows up for work... sober. If you practice and buy reasonable equipment, then you can paint your car, but you work hard and finishing it and in a longer time frame.

the maaco near me does decent work, what I like is that you get a warranty with the paint job...IF you let them do all the prep work. If you pull the car in primered, they aren't going to warranty anything. But, I've heard of a couple guys that wanted bubbles and runs taken out, and all they did was show up with the receipt, and they fixed it for free, thats what I like

just from the fact that come back to take runs out shows you they suck . a good painter never runs the paint .

Originally posted by Erik
Some of these paint questions really kill me... I've worked in the industry and I can honestly tell that more than half of these guys here have never refinished a car.

Thats a real useful tidbit of info, thank you. :thumbsup Some of us do know what we're talking about and have responded in the hopes of helping this fellow member.

Originally posted by Erik
Paint in fact does "stick" better to old paint and NOT to primarly to primer of any sort.

Sure it does :rolleyes If you mean old paint that has been sanded and prepared properly, then you are correct. But if you mean old paint that has been scuffed with a scuff pad, which is what maaco does,then your wrong. Also if you paint onto to old paint that has not been sanded correctly, then your new paint's life expectancy will be cut significantly due to the fact that when the old paint releases, off comes the new paint.

Originally posted by Erik
Orange peel is usually in every single paint job.

Not true. If you know what your doing and dont need to rush to save money, so you can charge less(maaco),Then it can be avoided. At least to the human eye. My paint,for instance, has never been compounded or wet sanded since it was shot 3 years ago and has no trace of orange peel texture.

Originally posted by Erik
If you can find a painter that can shoot a whole car with no peel, he should quit and play the lottery.

I'll be sure to call my friend and owner of the shop who painted my car and tell him that he should sell his very lucrative business to go play lottery because he knows how to paint correctly. :rolleyes

Originally posted by Erik
My honest opinion is that Maaco painters are usually better than regular shops. They do it all day long, and really know thier equipment. They are also watched and evaluated upon their work

That's just absurd. The may do it all day long, but they do it all day long, the wrong way. They shouldnt have to be watched over. And the maaco painters are probably evaluated on how fast they can get a job done.

Originally posted by Erik
rather than independent shops who most of the time pray that their pre-maddona painter shows up for work... sober.

You must be watching to much Discovery channel if thats your impression of painters of independently owned bodyshops. Had a couple bad experiences have you? Or maybe you were the painter that showed up drunk.

I don't know how but Maaco managed to repaint my hood with what looked like rock chips. I'm confused becuase my hood had no rock chips to begin with.

Originally posted by slowmitsu
I don't know how but Maaco managed to repaint my hood with what looked like rock chips. I'm confused becuase my hood had no rock chips to begin with.

I guess that maaco painter wasnt being "watched or evaluated".:rolleyes sorry to hear that bro.

Originally posted by CustomGS

Originally posted by slowmitsu I don't know how but Maaco managed to repaint my hood with what looked like rock chips. I'm confused becuase my hood had no rock chips to begin with.

I guess that maaco painter wasnt being "watched or evaluated".:rolleyes sorry to hear that bro.

That's life.

Thanks for all the input guys. Going to a different body shop.