MAACO Paint Job

Ok, I know that Maaco is notorious for shotty paint jobs, but I'm probably getting a '95 single cab dually that needs paint. I don't have much cash and was wondering who all has gotten a paint job done there. I'm just looking for something that'll be good for a year or 2 and is better than what it is. Anyone? Thanks

There probably it then, the big deal is they'll paint over dings, chips ect and the paint is an off brand that is cheap and there prep work is shotty, there in the money business not the painting business.

I went to autobody repair school and have worked there too back in the 80's.

Jim

If you do some prep work and make sure that the things you don't want paint on are removed it can work out for you. I discussed it with a local body guy before I did mine (did not end up going to Macco).
They do paint a lot of vehicles so some of those shops have guys who are good painters. For what you are looking for it will probably work well if you do some work before they get it.

My brother is a Master Painter for PPG paints, so he's a painting snob. He was between jobs a while back, and took a job with Maaco to make ends meet. That lasted exactly 1 hour.

They're prep work consisted of taping off the windows and that was about it. They expected him to paint over the old paint and clearcoat, and any chips, dings, scratches, or anything else that was already on the vehicle. But what really put him over the top was that they expected him to "water down" the paint because "it's expensive ya know" and they have to make it last.

Please consider shopping around at the small, local body shops. They're probably hurtin' in this economy too, so they may be willing to cut you a break. $.02

Mrs Shifter said:

Please consider shopping around at the small, local body shops. They're probably hurtin' in this economy too, so they may be willing to cut you a break. $.02

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Wouldnt even think about that, we work on comission. Less overall work means we will nickle and dime a job to death.

If the clear is peeling on you truck a new paint job wont do much to fix it. The new paint will be sticking to the old clear that is peeling. Maaco paint loses it shine after a few months.

Find out what paint you need, buy it yourself, do all the small prep work you can yourself, and then take it to a shop that has a good reputation.

Try to do as much of the prep work as you can. Seek out a local shop and see what they would want for just shooting the paint.

I'm going to shop around, especially after hearing that. We have a place in Elgin that may cut me a break. Thanks for the input. Sounds like Maaco is pretty *hitty.

Sherwin Williams just came out with a new line of paint that is a one shot deal for budget projects. Our rep says it turns out pretty good. On Tuesday I'll get the line name for you if you want to check it out.

I will never use macco again had one truck painted there just before I sold it looked great (New it probably wouldnt last but I was selling). Sold it and bought another that needed body work. I roughed it in (sheetmetal work and 1 layer of bondo) they were suposed to do final body work and do an entire paint of the truck. They ended up just spraying the truck doing no body work. I wouldnt even accept the truck when I went to pick it up and they refused to reshoot it after talking with the manager he agreed to do the body work (That I paid for) and reshoot the bed if I paid for material. Ok sounds as good as its gonna get $200 for supplies and he reshot it. I went to pick it up the lady behind the counter goes it came out good for two different paints. I was like hold up two different paints????? Yup they called in a paint rep from a different paint company to demo their product on the bed of my truck so they didnt have to pay for the paint/supplies. So I ended up with 2 slightly diffent black colors and out an extra $200 but I couldnt go any longer without my truck. Macco Sucks and I wouldnt reccomend them to my enemy after my last experiance. They have since gone out of buissness in my town LOL

Mrs Shifter said:

Please consider shopping around at the small, local body shops. They're probably hurtin' in this economy too, so they may be willing to cut you a break. $.02

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that would be my suggestion. see a truck in wal-mart parking lot with a new paint job; ask them where it was done. I lucked up on an old project of mine and had a local shop paint mine with some good paint. clear was peeling so he sanded all it down and removed/reinstalled the handles/mirrors/trim. cost me $650 cash. only bad spot I seen was he didn't get the clear thick enough in the middle/back of the cab when he sprayed it from the ground and the inner doors needed more clear.

a friend of mine had his civic daily driver painted by maaco and after he had it done he brought it to this shop and they wetsanded it and then layed a few coats of clear..turned out SUPER nice

Not all maacos are the same. They are independently owned. Some are horrible and some are amazing. Out of the 4 I deal with 1 of them always has nice cars there.-BMW's, Vipers, and a crap load of muscle cars. No 2 of them are alike.

How would one find out how good the quality is? Or is it hit or miss and just hope you found a good one?

Do a walk through of the shop. See how clean it is, see what kinda cars are in there. See some of the finished work leaving the shop to see how good it is.

Good idea. I'll defiantly to that before I count them out for good.

I would never use the one in Sarasota, FL again. They even painted over the rubber strip that ran in the middle of the truck. It was peeling off when I picked it up.. They said that's just the way they do it.. Needless to say, it was rediculous.

Morse said:

I would never use the one in Sarasota, FL again. They even painted over the rubber strip that ran in the middle of the truck. It was peeling off when I picked it up.. They said that's just the way they do it.. Needless to say, it was rediculous.

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Wow... Thats pretty ignorant of them

ride42 said:

Sherwin Williams just came out with a new line of paint that is a one shot deal for budget projects. Our rep says it turns out pretty good. On Tuesday I'll get the line name for you if you want to check it out.

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I know one of our local shops has tried it ...... every car so far has been back for issues. Its not a budget if you have come backs. Needless to say as of this week they will no longer be using it.

If you are going to buy your base color for the truck and are on a budget you might consider the DeBeers line by Valspar which was a company that bought out of Japan and is still fairly economical. Standox is re-labeled high end Spies Hecker at a much better price.

Problem with SW over the years has been what many consider the use of excess paraffin wax in their basecoat. Paraffin wax is what keeps the metallic in suspension after you mix up what you are going to spray. The idea is keep the metallic evenly suspended in the cup on your paint gun long enough to spray the liter of paint not overnight. When you stir up a metallic color in a can or mixing cup and the metallics don't settle down to the bottom of the can after an entire day there is a lot of paraffin wax present.

If you use an "economical" basecoat that uses urethane reducer (not a basemaker which has resin it) a trick the company won't tell you is don't buy the "economical" urethane reducer designed for that line of base. Use either that companies high end line of paints urethane reducer or a known high end "aftermarket" urethane reducer (keep in mind most aftermarket reducers aren't high end but they do exist). The difference between their "economical" reducer and their high end reducer is typically the parts per million water content. The lower the ppm water content in any solvent or reducer the better quality product you have.

When you use a high end reducer in an economical base you will immediately notice the basecoat lays/sprays better and metallics generally spray more even. Simply put reducers with lower ppm water content have better solvency.

Maacos are typically independently owned and just last year I happen to receive a mass mailing from them saying for $75,000 I too could have a franchise in my area. I noticed a few weeks ago while working with the jobber salesman for my local retailer someone took them up on their offer for a shop in my county and we stopped in just for grins knowing they are under a major corporate contract. They are going to use anything from enamel to a decent base clear depending what you are will to pay. Personally they wouldn't be my first choice for a paint job. Also, keep in mind the shop was squeaky clean....though I don't have a clue if this was a better franchise or not.

Since times are tough and the collision industry as a whole is down ~15-20% nationwide this year you might consider going to each of your local paint stores any days except Monday or Friday and ask one of the counter-people or the manager about local behind the house body men/painters in your area that will never show up in a phone book.

Since you are on a budget these guys have less overhead and generally are the first to see business fall off when times get lean with the smaller shops being next next in line. Keep in mind many don't do much in the winter due to inadequate heat so you are getting to the end of their painting season pretty quick in most areas. These backyard guys generally are going to be more susceptible to you supplying your own paint and doing your own prep work.

Regardless of what route you go do NOT buy the paint until you find a painter/shop first because they might only like to spray coatings that they are comfortable with and being experienced they can tell you which economical coatings work the bet for the money and their particular shop. Plus, mixed colors are generally not returnable.