paint quality?

[kcoelhoe30]

i am planning to get my car repainted after an accident i had last month i just finished repairing everything but not sure were to go for paint.

i went to macco for a quote and for full body work and paint its going to be $600 for there premium paint job with a 3 year warrenty on the clear coat.

i heard many negative reports on macco but im already doing he body work on the front fenders and hood my self. but idk about there quailty lease leave a comment below on your thoughts and maybe a suggestion on paint shops?

Thanks in adavnce!

check out my sig for the link to my project thread for pictures!

[mrsleeve]

a good real paint job is 2k minimum and thats getting a hook up. But really its closer to 4k.

A maco job is a maco job, you get what you pay for most of the time.

[914fan]

I can tell you if it is Quality Paint, 600 won't cover materials in most cases. Have had two cars painted in the past 3 years. One we are doing ourselves and a gallon of PPG was 450. Not including primer/sealer.
The Maaco guys surely spray enough cars to be good at spraying. Their prep work sux and you will find prep is 90% of the finished product.
I would check to see how much it would be if you took it to them ready to spray and supply your own paint.

Phillip

[naplesE30]

Dont go cheap on paint or you will regret it, if you are planning on keeping the car. Find an independent body/paint shop that your local dealer uses.

[bmwstephen]

he's selling you the cheapest paint materials and technique. a factory paint job from maaco themselves costs 1000+ for single stage paints, and $2000 for two stage paints.

[Dozyproductions]

1k for primer/base/clear was my experience and I used Dupont. Then I spent 2 months prepping the car myself and it was still shit :) But if you're doing the prep yourself, be patient and then once you've guide coated it a zillion times and got it right then find some one that will spray it for you, which around here would still cost you around 500 bucks from a buddy.

[Fleksta]

Is your car intended to be a show car? If not, Maaco should be fine. I plan on getting my car resprayed there next spring. Even an iffy job will look better than dinged, scratched, faded, and peeling factory paint.

Just ask yourself if you can justify a $3k+ paint job on a car worth about that much on a (really) good day.

[bmwstephen]

definitely do the disassembly work yourself. I can't stress enough that windshields should be removed as well as door locks. Regrettably, I did not do this and the paint started flaking off around those areas, thankfully maaco covered it under their warranty when I did it but it was just a pain in the ass to take off all the parts again.

[Kershaw]

an oem repaint of an e30 is going to run you about $8k.

$4k is a very good repaint.

$2k is passable.

$600 is shit.

[nmlss2006]

Not worth the hassle. Good luck with your search.

[KVF]

I have learned one thing: do not under *any circumstance* use pricing as the guideline of how well a US body shop will work. Local wage variations are too high for that to make sense nationwide, firstly. Secondly, no body shop actually has people who know how to do body work - the best you can hope for is people who have some knowledge in replacing parts. If you are inordinately lucky, you may chance upon one which, though with the fundamental deficit above, will be able to credibly put some paint on a metal surface. The problem is that even in that case, the pressure to get your low-income job done fast to maximise the easy and lucrative insurance jobs is simply too high, so even people who would have the knowledge get rushed into doing acceptable jobs but no more. Again, please note that the pricepoint will in no way shield you from this. I will be very, very glad to be proven wrong, but at least in the northeast, this has not happened yet - and my experience seems to be validated more or less everywhere. The worst thing that ever happened in this sense is comprehensive and collision insurance.

+1
I paid a grip to have my e46 painted by a shop that did body & paint work for the BMW dealer I bought the car from. 2 years later I had to have the bumper & trunk redone because of flaking/peeling paint.

Buddy of mine just did a Maaco job on his e36 and right now it looks "pretty good". He only paid 1300.00 to have a trunk put on with some minor body work to a rear quarter... They painted the tops of his tail pipes and got some paint on a few trim pieces. Easy enough to clean up, but shows the lack of prep. If you don't want to spend more than the car is worth, do all the body work you can and then disassemble the car yourself. Check with locals to find the most budget friendly place (may be Maaco) to do a final prep & spray. After that you can only pray.

[kcoelhoe30]

thanks for all the feed back guys im planning on doing more prep work my self and removeing molding ect but this is my daily driver so there not much i can do =\ im going to go with macco because one... ive never gotten a quote under 2k from an independent shop and the cheapest onbe was quite questionable but this car just isnt worth a 3k paintjob to me. and plus i dont have the money for it

[bmwstephen]

http://forum.norcale30.com/showthread.php?t=10535

Heres my experience with maaco, PPG enviro paint. 3 base coats and 2 clear coats for $1800. I did the disassembly, they prepped, primed and painted the car in 3 days. Paint is holding up really well.

Factory matched sterling silver.

All maacos are indepently owned but are franchised for capital resources. I researched this one for 3 months before committing. I interviewed previous customers on yelp who owned classic porrsches and american muscle.

-Blame my typos on my fat fingers & Droid Charge

[brutus87]

My brother in law, his best friend and I are doing my car, so far im at 1600 in paint, supplies, and such. A decent job and up is expensive.

[914fan]

Yes Like I said earlier, Paint is not cheap. The paint alone for mine was 450. Add in the reducer hardner, sealer and primer and I am at 1k and we got friend prices at the shop.