Maaco paint, not body work?????

Mike Combs

Registered User
I'm wanting to get my car painted, but need someone to spray it. I can do all of the body prep work, but don't have a paint gun, compressor, or facility.
If I brought a flawlessly prepped car into maaco would maaco do a good spray job and offer good quality paint??
 
The only way to really know if they would give you a "good spray job" would be to go to the one near you and view their finished work. The guy that sprays there may be good, and care about what he does, and the guy at the one in the next town over may not. As far as quality of paint, that is more nebulous.

Talk to a body/paint guy-he'll tell you good to excellent quality paint for a full repaint will run $400 and up just for materials!!! Maaco uses cheaper paints with low solids, inferior resins etc. at low $$$ to attract the average Joe, UNLESS you ask for something better and are willing to pay for it.

I want to think good things about Maaco, but i've read reams of negatives, from runs, to loss of shine within a year. Search Google yourself, don't take my word for it. Most talented techs , if they've ever worked there, have moved on to better shops for better pay.
There HAS to be a good Maaco franchise owner out there with some integrity and decent techs, but the paint quality goes hand in hand with the price I'm afraid, no way around it-and they want to cater to the low- end the same way McDonalds slaps hamburgers together, that's their niche. Move 'em in, move 'em out.

You have the right idea, in doing the prep yourself, because that's 3/4 of the job, and speaks directly to longevity, but you must pay a bit more for name brand mid to high end paint. Also realize, most shops will not give you a guarantee when you do the prep, despite how well you do it. ( And you'll easily do it better than Maaco IMO, because you're not cutting corners for time). But the guarantee is a factor for some, because Maaco is bound to screw something up the first time. You could always try to negotiate a guarantee that covers runs, gloss holdout etc, but not delamination/bonding etc. Gets complicated , doesn't it?

This just comes full circle back to the materials and the prep, the spraying itself isn't that hard. (yeah-they can still mess it up somehow). :)
Good luck.
 
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