Dropped off the Accord at Maaco

[paulri]

Maaco did a nice paint job on a Civic I had until it got stolen recently. It still looked good 3 years later, but it was their 5 year separate clear & base coat. Local guy recommended on yelp wanted $3000 to do it; Maaco charged me half that much.

I was told to look for a CERTIFIED maaco--not all of their shops are certified. That might have helped. It couldn't hurt, unless the closest certified shop is too far away.

 

[csandste]

Originally Posted by Egg_Head
For the $1200 job, did that include rolling up the windows before painting?

Complained about a sub $50 paint job on an early sixties Beetle and the guy said "come here". Back room was full of winos and addicts pulled off the street. Atlanta, early Seventies.

 

[Kjmack]

Originally Posted by csandste
Originally Posted by Egg_Head
For the $1200 job, did that include rolling up the windows before painting?

Complained about a sub $50 paint job on an early sixties Beetle and the guy said "come here". Back room was full of winos and addicts pulled off the street. Atlanta, early Seventies.

They were there just for the fumes

 

[Donald]

Originally Posted by paulri
Maaco did a nice paint job on a Civic I had until it got stolen recently. It still looked good 3 years later, but it was their 5 year separate clear & base coat. Local guy recommended on yelp wanted $3000 to do it; Maaco charged me half that much.

I was told to look for a CERTIFIED maaco--not all of their shops are certified. That might have helped. It couldn't hurt, unless the closest certified shop is too far away.


Good recommendation:. "Maaco did a good enough paint job so someone wanted to steal it"

 

[willbur]

"Subarus come with poor paint from the factory....at no additional cost!"

Hondas, too

 

[blupupher]

If I actually cared what my truck looked like, I would have brought it to Macco a long time ago.
As is, I don't care. It looks like crap, clear coat gone from hood, drivers rear bed a hodge-podge of paint, truck has a lot of dings, bangs and dents all over it. Surface rust on the roof (well, had it, I sanded it down and sprayed primer on it). Mechanically sound, just looks horrible.
A $1200 paint job would make it look a lot better than it does now. With me doing some of the prep work, probably really good.
Not as good as a $5000 job, but for a vehicle worth $3000-4000, I am not spending more than the value of the vehicle for just paint.
A $5000 paint job would add maybe $2000 to the sale value, a $1200 one would add $800 or so.

 

[KrisZ]

Good old google spying on me, this is what came up in my youtube feed, a $499 MAACO paint special.
Honestly, doesn't look half bad, how it will hold up is another story though.

 

[PandaBear]

If you want to save money with good result on Maaco, I heard the best you can do is to do the prep yourself and then drive it there to be painted (i.e. tape everything, sand off the rough stuff, maybe even prime it, tow it there with AAA, then afterward lightly sand it yourself, etc). The more expensive package the more coats and the cheaper one probably just one coat of the left over bulk paint (instead of color match).

I personally find it easier to just add a new layer of sealant every year to prolong the paint life, and now just sealant over the worn out 20 year old paint to make it last a couple more years. No point in paying $1500 to paint my $800 beater.

 

[mclasser]

Picked up the car today and I've gotta say, I'm quite pleased with the outcome. There was some overspray on the rear glass but overall not too bad. The paint's been applied evenly and I don't see any sags or runs. Most importantly: No more burnt up clearcoat!!

Take a look at the last pic, though, for some not-so-good news. I took a peek at the A/C condenser to make sure they didn't get any overspray on it. They didn't, but the whole bottom strip of it is breaking off! I can't say Maaco did this b/c it could've been like that from before and I just never noticed. I haven't seen such condenser failure before; maybe corrosion just rotted away the joints...? I ran the A/C on a few warm days recently and it worked fine. I don't see any evidence of leaking oil/R134a (yet). I just wanted to enjoy my shiny car, too

 

[dishdude]

Looks like they did a nice job!

 

[blupupher]

Not bad for $900.
That is easily a 5 foot paint job.

 

[meep]

I'd be tickled for $900.

It makes the wheels look old. time to detail those!

 

[JeffKeryk]

You sure got your money's worth. Well done.

 

[4WD]

Looks good … !

 

[CrAlt]

Wow that looks great. Ya now you gotta fix the wheels lol

 

[supton]

Wow, that looks pretty good. Maybe in person not so much, maybe it won't in a few years, but eh, not that much money in the scheme of things. Clean up the rims, find some of that new car scent air fresheners (?), and enjoy your "new" car.

 

[01rangerxl]

Nice. Looks great for being under $1K.

 

[researcher]

I'm really impressed! THAT'S MAACO!!?? wow..

On a separate idea, I love that green! I wish more car companies would bring back some nice green cars!

and about your a/c condenser, I just replaced mine (96 civic) with a new one. Mine began to leak at the welds, but then again what did I expect, it's 23 years old! lol.. I don't think maaco did that damage, you can damage those fins with your fingernail! Looks like it just gave up over time. Might want to check the system for leaks, because if it just started it'll be cheaper to replace that condenser than the entire system if it gets contaminated (being open, etc).

 

[Sayjac]

Looks very good. A tad overspray no biggie, for $900 I think you did well. A wise investment. The fact you're happy, most important. Thanks for pics.

 

[supton]

Originally Posted by researcher
I'm really impressed! THAT'S MAACO!!?? wow..

On a separate idea, I love that green! I wish more car companies would bring back some nice green cars!

TBH I'm intrigued. My wife loves green and I'm starting to toy with how I can get her a green car again. A cheapo paint job might work good enough. An Accord in green might be the ticket.