Hey everyone, so this past weekend I have been going around town at all the places that I could think of to get my paint job, since that other painter dude never did get back to me.

The price range was from 1200 - 3500 from different stores. I went to Macco & they said that they could do the whole truck including door jams & the engine bay for 1200 & then 1500 to get the hod painted a differnt color. And they said it could take right around 9 days.

But yet another guy said about no less than 3500 & I'm not paying that, cuz the place is a rip-off anyway

And differnt guy said around 2500.

Has anyone ever had a paint job from Macco? And problems w. them or their paint or process?

Brenton

 

Are you getting a paint job or are you also getting dings and misc stuff repaired?

Paint is the relative easy part. It's the prep. I used Maaco a LONG time ago. The original paint was crackled from the sun. They wetsanded but did not sand the paint cracks out so it showed through the new paint. I guess you have to be specific on what you want and ask them point blank if they can do it. If they say some flaws will show you have to weigh that out with the price.

Other differences are whether they remove headlights, door handles, etc or just tape around them. This will no doubt add to the labor cost. If the 3500 guy is doing that and maaco is not, that would have to be wighed also.

If your on a tight budget you may do the prep then offer cash to a shop and see what they can do for you. I was quoted $600 on my VW thing on the basis that they cleaned the surface and painted it, nothing more, nothing less. This was both the interior and exterior.

 

DOOOOO NOTTTTTT DOOOO ITTTTTT

i got my mustang painted at earl sheib last summer and it took them 5 times to re do it before it got done the right way and i have paint chipping off the car while its sitting in my garage. If i could do it again i woulda spent the 2000 a body shop was gonna charge me. If i was you save your money cuz youll invest more fixing what maaco did wrong!!!

 

There are other factors also. Some use clear coats, guys like Maaco may use a single stage paint with built in clear. I'm not real knowledgable on specifics.

 

yea their clear is mixed in and it doesnt really show. I bought a gallon of ppg clear and had them spray about 4 coats on my mustang and it really made it stand out for their other crappy paint jobs they did. I tell people earl scheib painted my car and they dont believe me but when i tell them it took them 5x to get the paint right then they believe me

 

That's nice Peter. Some day I'm gonna go looking for a T-top version. It will probably be $$$ by the tme I get around to it.

 

couldnt find a t-top when i was lookin for one and when i came across them they were in the 8k range. I bought mine for 2300 and invested about 2500 in it.

 

take it to a real body shop not maaco. it took me looking at the 30 or so body shops in town before i found one i liked..

 

they have decent paint jobs but the prep job is lousy

 

yeah dont take it to macco.....they really suck, from experience with friend's cars....clearcoat sucks, and it peels off the stock paint after like 6-12 months....i would keep looking around...there are tons of body shops around, many no name small shops are the best, where they can take time and do it right, a place in columbus that is well known is "dods body shop" they do GREAT work, and i will probably be taking my truck there to get buffed out...

Rocky

 

really the only way to get a good paint job out of them is prep the truck yourself that is primer it and wet sand what not take it there. have them paint it and then CLEAR it.. then take it home and wet sand and polish the **** out of it then its decent..not great just decent

 

Ok, what if I prepped it myself and show them everything I want painted like door jams, engine bay, etc. and have them paint it w. some good quality paint that I choose from another store? And then pick out a clear for them to use.

When I went to Macco, they told me 1200 for the whole thing w. door jams, engine bay, the whole kit & kaboodle. And he said that if I can get my hands on it to get a different kind of paint from elsewhere of better quality.

What should I do w. my truck for prep work? Go into details please. And my bed is spray painted red, so I need to remove that also!

Brenton

 

what color are you painting?

you have so much prep ahead of you, I dont think you know what you are getting into. I'd pay the 3500 if that covers all prep a little body repair for dings and dents, 3 coats of paint and then a coat of clear and a wash and wax before you get it back. it's worth it.

do you have fenders yet?

to answer your question, DA all the mostly flat parts, get in all the crevaces and rounded parts with a sheet of sand paper, any dents or dings need to be DA'd and then wet sanded out, or if they are deep they'll need some bondo.

clean the whole surface, then primer ( I've heard dark primer for light paint andlight primer for dark paint)

 

Well engine bay would be a *****! I wouldn't want to do that personally. you'd hafta take everything out.

I think if doing prep will drop 500+ bucks its well worth it. To be lazy enough to shell out a huge amount of money so someone can do something tedius for ya isn't worth it. get out there, prep and make sure you do a damn good job.

Aaron

 

have a body shop do it unless youve beeen doing body work your whole life. A straight body to you is a curved and wavy body to someone with alot of body work expierence. trust me

 

Well, I started sanding the bed tonight. It's coming along okay, just time consuming. I'm not going to be doing the engine bay, but I'll let them do that. I'm just wanting to more or less get the body's main components.

I can't tell yall yet what color or 'theme' I'm painting it yet, that's the suprise.

Brenton

 

My dad had gold trim painted on the bottom of my moms old van. Maaco did an ok job on the outside, but in the door jams it wasn't done properly. The paint ran a little bit and the didn't tape everywhere they should have and it eventually started to chip. That was my expierience @ Maaco.

 

you need to primer too not with rattle cans with a spray gun and wet sand that also DO NOT sand with your fingers use a sanding block your fingers will acully show. sounds odd but true...really take your truck to a REAL body shop and just have it done the right way you will be so much happier

 

I wouldn't have them touch the engine bay. I wouldn't trust them. Unless you pull the motor and everything out of the engine bay and trailer the truck there, I wouldn't let them paint it.

 

Well, here are my progress pics. I needed to start from scratch on the bed, cuz there was the layer of primer, stock color, primer again, and a couple coats of spray paint...

Brenton

 

i could do a better job than maaco while being blindfolded and drunk.

my first car was painted by maaco... paint was on the rubber trim around the windows... partially in the door jambs... on the black rubber bumper... and the hood for some reason got skipped with a clear coat. 4 years later i could have pealed the entire coat of paint off with my finger nails if i wanted

 

Paint is defenitly something you will want to spend $ on. With paint, the "you get what you pay for" line comes into play....

But good luck dude, i hope for the best.

 

The best guy with a buffer in Columbus is in Grandview, no paint, just detailing. Can't remember the name of the shop though.


A close friend of mine owns all of the Maacos in Columbus (4 or 5 of them). I would not take them a car and have them do all of the prep work, paint and finish work. The only guy I would reccomend for paint to friends is in Toledo, Ohio. Kind of a long drive for you, I am sure there is someone closer, may want to find out who used car dealers are using.

 

I'll prob. start calling around tomorrow to see what else I can come up w. other than Macco and not having to pay out the *** for it.

Brenton

 

What should I do w. the cab of the truck, like sanding wise? Should I strip it all down?

I have to take the balck molding off around the windows so that there will be no more black around there & hopefully Evan (HighRollerII) will be shaving that for me & the fenders.

Brenton