[64speed]

My buddy got the premium car paint service from Maaco about 7 years ago. Not being a big Jeep fan I never paid it any attention but I was in his garage today and noticed that after all these years and several Jeep style outings it still looked really good. I was really surprised to hear him say that he had it done at Maaco. Anyone else use their premier base coat clear coat option with any success? Was thinking this may be a viable alternative to a show job because of course appearance is important but I plan to drive my car and don’t want to worry about a 20000 dollar paint job.

[Jerry H.]

When you hear 20k quoted for a 'paint job' that generally includes all sheetmetal repair, bodywork, etc. From what I read into your posts you are already doing your sheetmetal repair separately. Then subtract the costs of the bodywork and the actual costs of spraying the car is not that great.

I've seen a couple of cars that were taken to Maaco with all metalwork and bodywork done and completely ready to paint that looked pretty good. But again if you've got your car that far along you could probably find a few local guys who would spray it for what Maaco quotes, if not less.

[NeighborsComplaint]

I had a $900 Maaco repaint done at one point on my GTO. Price included removal of all trim, primer coat, block sanding, basecoat and clearcoat. They did a very nice job. I had the car painted because there were graphics painted all over the car that once removed, left high spots from yoears of buffing around them. They block sanding everything smooth, welded and patched holes in the hood from hood pins and also straightened out some waviness where the hood was buckled from a bad hinge. All in all, it was a pretty nice job.

I parked near a Canyon Copper '72 at the POCI this year that was also done by Maaco. The owner did all the prep and Maaco painted it. It would easily pass for a show quality paint job.

Maaco:

[64speed]

Well they offer level of services and length of warranty’s so I am tempted to check them out

[64speed]

This seems like a hell of a place to cut corners in the build but I think I’m gonna let them do it. Their premium base coat clear coat with a five year warranty if 1399 plus en extra 300 for the color change for the dash plus another 400 to mount and adjust the front end. You can’t bear that and the pictures they have of local cars they’ve done is impressive. Plus no body shop jail. As soon as I get to that portion of the build I will do a before and after shoot for you.

[Ben M.]

I had Maaco paint my car some years back. It wasn't show quality and loads of guys liked to talk crap about it, but it served its purpose and looked presentable and shiny for 12 years with minimal effort and maintenance on my part.

[64speed]

I will drive this car so I can’t lht a 200 hour at 75 dollars an hour paint job. The base clear pics they have up in the office look good. They didn’t lay out the stripes but they had a 70 judge that they had painted that looked great to me. Guy was gonna lay his own stripes out

[NeighborsComplaint]

The Maaco that did mine required me to view the car in primer and sign off on the prep before paint. They gave me a roll of tape and had me mark any flaws that I found. I was very happy with the paint. The clearcoat was glass smooth and the panels perfectly straight.

After being vandalized, I had another shop strip the car to bare metal (it had 3 paints jobs on it), skim coat and block it. I thought it looked good until I put it up on a lift for the first time. They got very lazy on the lower portions of the rear quarters but you had to lay on the ground to see it. I paid $5500 5 years ago for that job and honestly, the paint wasn't that much better than what Maaco did.

[RocktimusPryme]

Paint has gotten outrageous. Im sure you can find horror stories with cheap paint, but for someone who is going to drive their car I wouldnt recomend spending 10 figures. I dont want to be afraid to drive it. I went to a local family owned economy paint shop that offers Macco type prices. I said I didnt want the $299 single stage or even their $599 two stage. I just said I didnt want to be 15K into it. They did some mild body work, installed some repro trim and sheet metal and I ended up out $6500. Ive been satisfied.

Ive vowed that whatever I buy next will not need any metal work and I think I would be very happy with a cheap 2k or so paint job. I also honestly want to try it myself on a cheap car. No I dont think I could be chip foose, but Im convinced I can get a driver quality job I would be happy with on a car that was pretty straight to begin with.

[Chief of the 60's]

Back when we had a Maaco and I only had a 1 car garage I use to do a lot of work in my driveway then take the car to Maaco. Always an excellent job. Their masking job usually sucked but the paint was laid out like a rubbed out lacquer job. Alas, we haven't had a Maaco here in years. But if we did, I'd still use them.

FYI: How many people know that Maaco and Aamco Transmission are the same company? Check out the spelling, it's the owner's initials.

[MUSLCAH]

Just make sure they are putting a "High Solids" clear on......For them to keep prices down .....they have to use cheap products. There are A ~B ~C products out there ,for everyone's budget. Why cheap out now....it's the first thing everyone sees. You could have saved a lot of flow.....just patching the rear 1/4's .....

[64speed]

Originally Posted by MUSLCAH

Just make sure they are putting a "High Solids" clear on......For them to keep prices down .....they have to use cheap products. There are A ~B ~C products out there ,for everyone's budget. Why cheap out now....it's the first thing everyone sees. You could have saved a lot of flow.....just patching the rear 1/4's .....

I could have probably patched the passenger side but the drivers side was a total lose almost entirely up to the door. They didn’t even try to fix the dents or rust. They pop riveted a skin over the old body panel and blended it in with bondo

[NeighborsComplaint]

You could do worse, like wind up in body shop jail like my current situation. Been in the shop since the week of Labor Day and is finally done but not how I requested. Shop refused to paint the roof so next stop is a new vinyl top.

[tom s]

A friend of mine with a couple body shops said the paint for a good BCCC in SoCal is right at $1800 now,not including materials to prep the body or paper and such.Tom

[400 4spd.]

Tom, for GOOD products, that's a realistic number. And lower than many that I paint. We just shot a Mustang for around $2000 in paint materials. Not long ago a larger '63 Riviera ate up $2500+.

What everyone should realize is that Maaco shops are not like McDonalds. Just because it's a franchise does not mean you will get the same quality at every location. Same products, probably. Different vehicles, different employees, different talents, will get you different results.

I would offer some suggestions, but they aren't well received by some.

[tom s]

When I did my 63 Tempest my friend with the body shops did the body work,he had a couple of his guys do it on their own time.I paid 2K for labor and another 500 for materials.He would not paint the car.His shops are highend insurance shops.I found a local shop that shot it in single stage for $1500 and it came out great.The car is blk and the body guys killed in on the body.The paint job was OK,few bubbles on the rear but am really happy.There are pics of the restoration on here.I thought I hit the lottery for getting out at 4K.Virtually everyone was in the 10K range.Tom

[400 4spd.]

You did well.

[NeighborsComplaint]

I just had a partial )rear quarters, deck lid, spoiler, drip rails A and B pillars done. Material alone was $600

[NeighborsComplaint]

Originally Posted by 400 4spd.

What everyone should realize is that Maaco shops are not like McDonalds. Just because it's a franchise does not mean you will get the same quality at every location. Same products, probably. Different vehicles, different employees, different talents, will get you different results.

This is very true. The Maaco I used had a reputation for doing mini-restorations on muscle cars including front clip removal/under-hood detailing. They had 2 sections almost like 2 shops. One side "production repaint and collision", the other side so-called "custom shop". They would have their best body and paint guys on the "custom shop" side and shared the paint booth and minimum wage guys for sanding and taping.

[MUSLCAH]

I have to start marking my paint /clear and materials up 40%.....iam lucky to get paid enough from the insurance company's to just pay for the stuff.....