What did you pay for your paintjob?

[Butler]

BuMp

[MattM]

base clear zinno on full car was 1400 canadian(just spray and paint) including oven bake afterwards

[///digitalme]

.......

[phenryiv1]

Maaco's actual painting is generally regarded as fine. The problem is that they do next to no prep work on the car and seriously half assed masking.

If you do your own prep work, mask the car yourself/remove glass, and remove all the trim, they'll probably do a decent job for you.

I have heard the same thing from a friend who does some serious restoration work on vintage British vehicles, and few euros as well. I talked to him about shooting one or more of my projects and while he was willing to do it, he recommended at least checking out my local Maaco shops. He is not able to do sidework at the shop where he works, and I don't have a good place to use as a booth.

In this case, he had used both to do the final paint on a few cars that he was flipping (not his restorations, just oddball cars he had picked up and fixed and was looking to sell on the side). He said that with some basic prep work, and with having stripped the car himself, he got good results from both of the local Maaco shops. (Note: He used the middle 2 versions of their services- not the bargain basement, nor the top-of-the-line.)

Obviously, the quality will depend on the individual doing the painting, but checking out their work and doing your own prep can lead to a Maaco job that will be good for a project or track car.

I paid under $300 out the door to spray my M3 at Maaco. I removed all the glass/trim/bumpers/fenders and did all the prep work myself. I trailered the car there all primed and ready to go.
The quality of work was great. There were no runs or anything. I was very happy with the deal.

This seems to echo what I have been told.

Do people think theyd butcher it if i went from black to a sort of black metallic? ( preferably darker then d'schwarz)

It depends on how much you care about the transition at the door jambs, trunk, hood, etc.

[StereoInstaller1]

Hmm. Got me thinking. Although the majority of my paint is pretty nice.

Do people think theyd butcher it if i went from black to a sort of black metallic? ( preferably darker then d'schwarz)

I would not have anything done except a solid color, I would not even do DSwarz, as metallics are tough to spray.

If you are gonna do that, ask your local paint supply stores who is doing high-grade paint in their home spray booth.

[Stephen]

Hmm. Got me thinking. Although the majority of my paint is pretty nice.

Do people think theyd butcher it if i went from black to a sort of black metallic? ( preferably darker then d'schwarz)

[StereoInstaller1]

Personally, I am gonna do the "prep it myself and have Maaco squirt it" deal, but only the base model cheap-o paint.

This is a DD, and I am pretty damn qualified to keep it pretty.

[Vtec?lol]

Like everybody else says, if you remove the trim and glass, maaco is the way to go. However!!!! do not take it to them if you plan to change your color.
Try popping up a few times while your car is being painted. Get on them while they do the prep work, not really cause that will piss em off but just pop up and seem interested in what they're doing. Try to make friends with the prep workers and they'll be more entusiastic about doing the work. Hell, tip them. I gave a prep kid $100 bucks after telling him to wet sand it as much as he possibly could. Still had some orange peel but clay bars are your friend.

You're looking at no more than 900 the maaco way, that includes tipping the prep workers.

[Mde36]

I had a quote from macco for $1450 for their "top of the line" paint. This included body work, door jams, trunk interior, and engine bay. I would still remove all trim and and anything else you don't want paint on. Makes their job a little easier so they can focus on spraying the paint. A little cheaper too

[george graves]

sub'ed

[mach schnell]

Craigslist my man. You have to be careful and make sure the dude you find on there knows what he's doing but if he does he will have pictures of his work. So many painters and body guys are out of work or doing side jobs that craigslist is the way to go. Thats where I found my guy and he's great especially with fiberglass.

What are the right terms to use when searching CL?

[Hartge_H27]

I dont even want to mention how much i paid for my paint job. It was a full color change white to black.

[reelop19]

Craigslist my man. You have to be careful and make sure the dude you find on there knows what he's doing but if he does he will have pictures of his work. So many painters and body guys are out of work or doing side jobs that craigslist is the way to go. Thats where I found my guy and he's great especially with fiberglass.

[JMil86]

I want to change to schwarz, and have a maaco right next to my work where I could do all the prep myself. Anyone have Ideas about this? Still don't know because the engine bay would still be the same color, but I see some REALLY high quality work coming out of their shop. They painted our forklift for $199 and did a supremely half assed job masking, but the paint looks really good, and smooth, considering the condition it was in before(DEEP scratches everywhere).

[erik325i]

I paid under $300 out the door to spray my M3 at Maaco. I removed all the glass/trim/bumpers/fenders and did all the prep work myself. I trailered the car there all primed and ready to go.
The quality of work was great. There were no runs or anything. I was very happy with the deal.

Once I get around to prepping and doing the bodywork on my Mini, I'll take it there for a spray as well.

Erik