A MAACO paint job...oh no!

[qnz]

The difference is in the prep work. A fresh respray will look nice for the people who do not know what theyre looking at. But there are details that you should know and pay attention to before saying Maaco did a good job. Such as, is there "orange peel", swirls?, how thick is the paint, how many layers of clear, was there primer, sanding, etc

 

[RallyEclipse98]

Should have just done at least all the prep yourself.

 

[Tanro]

Looked great in the beginning. Planning on getting my car sprayed by maaco once I get the front end conversion done.

I plan on spending a week or two on prep though.

 

[etay89]

Looked great in the beginning. Planning on getting my car sprayed by maaco once I get the front end conversion done.

I plan on spending a week or two on prep though.

best of luck to you and the dsm

 

[Stevenson]

Nice.

It will start chipping off where the tape was used in about a year.

I bought this car from the OP almost over a year ago and the paint is still holding up very well I'm impressed, the car is also about 80% done with a 5spd awd swap as well I'll make a build thread when I have a chance.

 

[Gostlrs]

Was it the OEM bumper or one of the knock off ones. I have seen the knockoff ones crack a lot. They are flimsy

 

[Stevenson]

It still has the mitsu logo so Im going to say its an oem replacement.

 

[dsm8883]

Good paint and supplies would be more than the whole paint job u just got

 

[H4G64T]

The problem with Maaco isn't so much the workers, it's that for the cheap prices people want to pay they can only use a 1 stage paint, which includes clear and base. That paint will always chip and flake after awhile.

You can go with their top notch service which is a proper 2 stage paint job, but they hardly ever mask the car off or block it right, etc. Do all your prep work and mask the car off yourself and then bring it to them for their top notch service and you will get a pretty decent paint job that will last for a good long time.

 

[my dreamt dsm]

I bought this car from the OP almost over a year ago and the paint is still holding up very well I'm impressed, the car is also about 80% done with a 5spd awd swap as well I'll make a build thread when I have a chance.

Cool.
Will I've been using macco for my old car. 3 times. Reason was because it got stolen or I had to repaint fenders and hoods cause of stupid trees falling on it.
From my experience it is the people who work there and not the shop. Why? Because I had two buddies who went to two different macco besides the one I went to. One had the crappiest job in the world. When they were so called finish. We checked the front of his eclipse sypder and WTF... there was a piece of tape painted over it plus he lost half of a gas tank with hella miles rack on his odometer. I mean COME ON.
And the two other DIFFRENT shops my other buddy we used. The paint job is still holding strong, shiny and new. He is a lazy car buffer polish type.

 

[brownfinger]

I love the color on the OP's car

 

[bsbllfit7]

thats impressive, my cars paint was done with the cheap end maaco about 4 or 5 years ago and it shows terribly now. The paint has swirls all over and is dull on the hood and in other portions of the car. However, that was the cheapest job they had and i plan on going back and having it done with their higher stage paint jobs. Even if you have to have it painted twice in ten years for 800 dollars each. Its gonna look good for the majority of that time. Especially if the car is just a fun car and not a show car as previously stated. While we are on the topic of paints im going black and dont want the swirls and dull look so im thinking about extra clear coats? How many is too many and what you guys recommend. Please no "dont go maaco" comments as i am in college and just want it to look good for now

 

[Stevenson]

I love the color on the OP's car

I get this all the time, during the 2010 shootout it earned the name shiney primer after about 50 people came up to me and asked what color it was. It really does look like they shot grey primer on it and covered it with clearcoat. I was also told audi had a very similar color but I'm not sure if that's what they where going for or not.

 

[Paching]

Good paint and supplies would be more than the whole paint job u just got

^True that, I spent about $800 bucks in materials from sand paper to compound WTF

 

[etay89]

glad to know MY paint job is so popular

 

[Aerofury]

The color is pretty cool, did the car have any rust or issues that needed repaired when you took it in?

 

[vitamin]

Took my last 2g to Maaco, paid extra for primer and they ended up not doing it. We did a lot of the prep and left the last little bit to them - mistake. Tape job was terrible. Flies were found in the paint. They dropped our mirror on the ground and covered it in dirt and also picked up our rear bumper too soon after it was sprayed and cracked it all up. The majority of these problems were reported to the Maaco we took it to and they were resistant to fixing their errors.

The more metallic a single stage paint has in it, the more quickly UV rays will destroy it. Same goes for bright colors.

I will use Maaco again, but I certainly won't go to the same one I went to last time.

 

[Nasty Dream]

Never again Maaco. I'd have better luck buying a $30 air compressor and a $20 gun and learning as I go.

Massive overspray on my brand new chrome wheels, completely painted my headlights (2g Rx7), Paint faded in 3 months. Paint came off when I washed the car. Orange peel on most of the car. No idea what they were doing, unless they were smoking crack.

On the day I picked it up, it looked ####ing amazing, like some back to the future shit with smoke coming off it. Then you get a closer look, and so does the Sun.

I've said this already. If you want it done right, do it yourself or pay the big bills.

 

[dsm03]

Which paint option is that, ambassador, presidential etc..

 

[Boostinsideways]

Really depends on the job you get done and the people doing. The average maaco employ is an idiot. Some of them have good reputations. I would only take my car to one of 3 shops to get painted, one of them being a maaco. Never seen a bad job from that specific shop. That specific maaco has a good reputation, and the owner will not hire idiots.

 

[my dreamt dsm]

Very true it's the stupid maaco workers not the shop. Find a good maaco shop with the person who ACTUALLY cares and the job will come out right.

 

[Nasty Dream]

Sorry, not sure if you are asking me.

To be fair, I paid $280. I think this was not the cheapest. I thought I got clearcoat, but can't remember. This was in 1999. Still, idiots. Don't they have a big 'shower cap' for the wheels at least?

 

[my dreamt dsm]

Sorry, not sure if you are asking me.

To be fair, I paid $280. I think this was not the cheapest. I thought I got clearcoat, but can't remember. This was in 1999. Still, idiots. Don't they have a big 'shower cap' for the wheels at least?

Reminded me of something. I was to lazy to switch my new rims (5zigen Fno1rc off for steelies) I tolled them to be care full I just bought them. I came back three days later, 3 drips of clear or whatever it was that ate through the bronze color. Lazy = Fail!

 

[TurboATM]

kinda off topic, but who owns this car now? Saw it at the shootout...its now a 5spd, AWD.

 

[Nasty Dream]

kinda off topic, but who owns this car now? Saw it at the shootout...its now a 5spd, AWD.

I didn't realize the thread was so old. The owner should post again, let us know how the paint held up.

Reminded me of something. I was to lazy to switch my new rims (5zigen Fno1rc off for steelies) I tolled them to be care full I just bought them. I came back three days later, 3 drips of clear or whatever it was that ate through the bronze color. Lazy = Fail!

Yeah, I didn't have another set. I got mine to replace 1987 wheels that were beat up and the tires were trash.

I don't think it would have occurred to me that when you bring your car to be professionally painted, that they paint things like headlights and wheels, but that's just me. ::