Maaco

[Cherokeekid88]

Anyone ever dealt with Maaco personally? My GF's XJ was painted at Maaco right before she bought and it has been about 4 years and she NEVER washes/wax it and it still looks great.....
I am seriously thinking about going and getting an estimate because I don't want to spend 1k on a paint job just to have it get scratched up but at the same time I like for my jeep to look good and right now, my XJ has too much sun damage....

I know that they don't do too much prep work, that its just a basic sand and spray.....any advice?

I also know that some Maaco's are better than others depending on who is spraying.

 

[UNCC_99XJ]

If i'm not mistaken with them, the low level price is just straight paint..with zero prep work (you have to bring it in prepped). If you want them to do all the work, the price goes up a good bit from what I've heard. Don't know any of the prices off the top of my head though.

Can't hurt to look into a local body shop to see what they'd charge to paint it for you. You'd probably get better results that way anyways.

 

[sam24th]

My friend's first gen bronco was painted at maaco and it looks great. I honestly dont see an issue with them, just dont expect a showroom quality paintjob. Tim is right though, the $300 spray job is only for a single stage non metallic paint, with zero prep besides a once over with a hose to clear the dust, and masking windows. If I were you Id sand the jeep down, primer it, remove all the trim that you dont want painted, and take it there. Make sure the guys painting your jeep know what you are expecting, IE no paint on the wheels and windows. Ive had several friends go this route and the paint is decent for a DD.

 

[Lowrange2]

I had an old Mazda painted by Maaco a couple years ago. I got what I paid for. It came back with more paint on the tires than on the car. I don't think they masked the windows at all. I had to scrub the glass for hours to be able to see out of it... Never again. I'll pay more for a better job next time.

I had to replace the tires. Paint doesn't come off of rubber very well.

 

[KPTHEMP]

If I were you Id sand the jeep down, primer it, remove all the trim that you dont want painted, and take it there. Make sure the guys painting your jeep know what you are expecting, IE no paint on the wheels and windows. Ive had several friends go this route and the paint is decent for a DD.

X2, Prep is Key !!!, I've gone to them twice for different jeeps, but i always did the prep work and it came out great, went to a local guy for the third jeep and got screwed, I should have gone back to maaco, also keep an eye out, they run "half price" specials all the time.

 

[Gigantor]

I had my 1990 painted by Maaco - less than $1,000.00 for some body work and paint. Good job for the money in my opinion; they are doing my 1973 Mercury Comet this week.

 

[Tacedaddy]

Treat all maacos like independent shops and you ALWAYS get what you pay for

a 300 dollar paint job is a 300 dollar paint job

 

[Cnickgo]

Remember too the quality of paint. Maaco uses a cheap single stage paint with an integrated clear coat. It's just simply not going to last as long as a proper primer/color/clear job. It may look good for a couple of years, which may be all you are looking for, but the better long term investment is best done somewhere else. Your best option is to do the prep work yourself, find an old hot rod guy who has a booth in his detached garage, and have him spray it with Imron Poly Enamel by DuPont (with the proper primer and clear coats as well).

 

[The Hard Struggler]

Treat all maacos like independent shops and you ALWAYS get what you pay for

a 300 dollar paint job is a 300 dollar paint job

This!^

The paint job is only as good as the man holding the spray gun, regardless of the name on the door.

The guy who sprayed my CJ 7 in Athens Ga at a Macco was an idiot!
I wouldn't let that guy paint my wheelbarrow!

Since then I have seen decent budget work come out of two different Maaco's here in the Atlanta area.

My .02 is talk to the guys in the shop, not just the salesman. See if they look like the know what they are doing, look at some finished cars in the lot.

But still remember that a $300 paint job is not going to be that great, but for a wheeler, sure why not!

I've been doing my own paint work on my rigs for 15 years and get much better results for much less $.

 

[Cherokeekid88]

only thing is, I know nothing about prep work.....I painted my hood myself, but it looks like ish.... Plus I hate driving around a half assed car with primer spot all over it, plus I dont think my apartment complex would approve of me doing it.....

 

[Tacedaddy]

Remember too the quality of paint. Maaco uses a cheap single stage paint with an integrated clear coat.

Maaco can use whatever paint you tell them to use and do whatever you want them to do.. its just going to cost alot more

I've sprayed my last three cars with single stage NAPA paint and guess what.. They look great! and when i get scratches all over my jeep i can wetsand them out and it looks perfect again..

 

[bzauche]

This!^

The paint job is only as good as the man holding the spray gun, regardless of the name on the door.

The guy who sprayed my CJ 7 in Athens Ga at a Macco was an idiot!
I wouldn't let that guy paint my wheelbarrow!

Since then I have seen decent budget work come out of two different Maaco's here in the Atlanta area.

My .02 is talk to the guys in the shop, not just the salesman. See if they look like the know what they are doing, look at some finished cars in the lot.

But still remember that a $300 paint job is not going to be that great, but for a wheeler, sure why not!

I've been doing my own paint work on my rigs for 15 years and get much better results for much less $.

How much do you normally get for a paint job?

 

[MELKORsXJ]

I've been doing my own paint work on my rigs for 15 years and get much better results for much less $.

Shoot, we did my truck in your driveway, in like 30hrs overhaulin style!
That was fun! ...with a fractured wrist too

 

[MELKORsXJ]

I know I will never take anything to them EVER again!

When I was building my CJ3b I brought them a basically bare metal tub, fenders, hood, etc for them to prep and fix some small dents. They told me to come back in a week to look over bodywork, and pick out the color... Went back a week later to find everything exactly where I dropped it off with two days worth of rain sitting in it, all my bare metal work had surface rust now... I basically said screw you guys, I'll be back with a trailer to get my stuff!

Ended up doing bodywork and painting my jeep myself with Tylers help in his grandfathers barn... Did base/clear on body and single stage on the cage... Turned out really good for being my first time painting a vehicle

...hood & grill had a tree fall across them ...those are my street tires too.

 

[Ghost]

I know I will never take anything to them EVER again!

When I was building my CJ3b I brought them a basically bare metal tub, fenders, hood, etc for them to prep and fix some small dents. They told me to come back in a week to look over bodywork, and pick out the color... Went back a week later to find everything exactly where I dropped it off with two days worth of rain sitting in it, all my bare metal work had surface rust now... I basically said screw you guys, I'll be back with a trailer to get my stuff!

Ended up doing bodywork and painting my jeep myself with Tylers help in his grandfathers barn... Did base/clear on body and single stage on the cage... Turned out really good for being my first time painting a vehicle

...hood & grill had a tree fall across them ...those are my street tires too.

I want one! Love your and Tyler's rigs. Lenny picked up some of those recently. Not sure what his plans are for them.

 

[The Hard Struggler]

How much do you normally get for a paint job?

Good question! Never charged for one!

I painted 'Floyd' for about $40 and it looked great in flat black oil base industrial enamel. Keep in mind it was sprayed outside so there was a tiny bug here and there, but when it dried I just picked them out.

 

[bzauche]

Good question! Never charged for one!

I painted 'Floyd' for about $40 and it looked great in flat black oil base industrial enamel. Keep in mind it was sprayed outside so there was a tiny bug here and there, but when it dried I just picked them out.

Do you have pictures of 'Floyd'? I'm very interested to see how it came out.

 

[The Hard Struggler]

Lol! The paint looked good for oh', bout 12 hrs! Harlan at The Crawl began the body beatdown.

It currently has no glass in it and not more than 2 square feet of undented sheetmetal!

 

[bzauche]

Lol! The paint looked good for oh', bout 12 hrs! Harlan at The Crawl began the body beatdown.

It currently has no glass in it and not more than 2 square feet of undented sheetmetal!

Oh, I understand now haha. Do you think you are capable of doing a pretty good paint job though? Clear coat and all that stuff...

 

[Team Willys]

If say Tim can do it no problem! But just understand that materials for base clear are a lot more expensive than they are for single stage. However the finish will be nicer with base clear.