Has anyone ever gotten a truck painted at Maaco?

[ringpop1]

I have a 05 XLT and I got hit by someone the other day when mine was parked(minor damage). I got some bids to get the work done and when I talked to Maaco they told me that they could do a complete repaint and the body work for about the same price as the dealers that I went to. I am just unsure of how good of a job they will do on the paint. I have heard some good and some really bad. If anyone has gone to them, please tell me your results and post pics if you can. Thanks.

 

[IZwack]

I think SPAS got her rig painted at Maaco. Dunno exactly the details of the job and the layers but after a while, the paint turned significantly lighter (faded?)

 

[trevell407]

My Grandmother got her Lincoln painted there after she hit a huge concrete column.
Most of it washed off after 4 good months of Florida rain.
I'd say pay for the quality work if you want your truck to look good for awhile.

 

[Blacksheep Josh]

For that new of a vehicle, I say get it done elsewhere. If the price is about the same, I say go to the reputable place.

 

[justchecking]

My experience is that the MAACO paint only lasts a couple of years before it fades or dulls.

 

[redneck21]

The problem with MAACO is they don't do a lot of prep work. I seen PPL do all the sanding and what not then had them just paint and lasted till they sold the car. Also one hear has a 5 year warranty on pealing, fading and all that stuff.

 

[Convict1997]

I've had two vehicles painted at a local Maaco. The first, a 92 Ranger was approx $650. This included some body work to sand down the hood and the roof and fill some holes that had been drilled in the doors for aftermarket mirrors that I replaced. The second was a 93 mustang that came up to about $450. Both of these were done with the mid grade paint service (presidential?) which is a single stage paint job with a clear coat mixed into the paint. On both vehicles I noticed that while the jobs weren't perfect, I think I got a great deal for the price I paid. On both vehicles, for the same work, I was quoted at least $3000 and up from all the local shops. One thing I noticed was that the paint didn't seem to be as durable as a good two stage base/clear. Both were showing a lot of water spotting after a few months and they seemed to chip easily. Also, the prep work wasn't the greatest, but I knew that would be the case when I went into it. Anyone that has "some imperfections may show" pre-printed on every quote leads me to believe they might not put as much time into sanding and prep as I might like. But, for the money I paid, I think it was well worth it. Now, if I could have paid close to the same or maybe a little more I would have gone to a good body shop. I just couldn't justify paying as much or more than the value of the vehicle to get it painted. Hell, for the price, I could afford to get them both redone every couple of years and still come out ahead. Here's some shots of the work:

 

[toypaseo]

I have seen better quality jobs from "mom and pop" places.

One guy I used to work with got one of those quickie in and out jobs. Looked great for the first year. After that, anywhere it was "hard" to prep around, the paint flaked off. Like around the door handles, antenna, emblems, and whatnot. Looked like crap since it started out light blue, and was repainted a shade of maroon.

Each Maaco is independently owned, and I have heard of cheap killer paint jobs, and have heard of crappy jobs. It all depends on the employees.

 

[410Fortune]

you get what you pay for
I will never use Maaco again for anything, ever
My experience was NOT GOOD
If you do ALL OF THE PREP work then MAYBE have them spray it, dont let them do any prep or finishing work IMO

 

[ringpop1]

The price difference is almost 5 grand for the paint job and body work. I went to the local Maaco shop today and asked them to look at some of the cars that bought the same package that I got and they had a few in the yard. They looked good. I think that I am going to do it with them and I told them that I want to get the better prep job that they offer. It comes with a 4 year warranty on peeling and what not. There is nothing on my quote that says anything about imperfections.

 

[ringpop1]

I do not think that these look that bad

 

[section525]

I think it all depends on the shop. There is a member on a Super Duty forum I visit who owns a Maaco shop. He does some amazing work (at least on his own trucks : ).

 

[TedJ]

My mom had her '80 Buick Riviera painted there, whatever the expensive job was. They did a ****ty job, and destroyed the driver's side door panel. They lost the name badge that went on the trunk.

They had to take the door panel off to take the door handle off to fix some rust, but when putting the panel back on all the Christmas tree fasteners at the bottom were not lined up and they just smashed it with a mallet or something, and broke all the mounts out of the panel where the fasteners go in. I had to take it all apart (they had the trim on wrong around the inside door handle too) and then use screws with trim washers to put the panel on (came out ok, the screws look ok in the carpet section)

The paint itself, prep disaster it was. They they did a **** job taping around everything, and even painted around stuff like the headlight bezel (two screws and its off, painted it anyway). Paint itself has some orange peel, not too bad otherwise. Some of the rust they fixed is starting to come back (been 4 years or so)

My dad had the rust on his bronco fixed there too, (sigh) the regular bronco rust over the rear wheels and tailgate. Paint blending and look was fine and it has not faded, but their rust repair was utter **** and it's coming back now (4 years or so). The tailgate has a big lump of filler on the back of the bottom (looks like they didn't fold the patch over all the way) and they lost some of the screws for the taillight housings. Also messed up the bracket for the tailgate somehow, part of it was ground down for no reason?!?!

As was mentioned, every maaco is different, but they all seem to suck at various levels. You just can't get the level of skill required for the money you're paying. You're paying the rate for a ditch-digger to someone painting cars, so their skills will be of the ditch-digging level plus five minutes of instruction from someone. And don't forget the boss putting them under pressure to get it done faster. There's no way even a good body man could prep the car right in the time allowed.

You'd probably be better off using the $50 paint job techniques and doing it yourself. At least, do the prep yourself, and leave them only to spray the actual paint. At that rate you could probably have a real shop do it because the prep is the expensive part, and get very nice results with good materials at a real shop. Paint prep is not hard, its just time consuming.

 

[ringpop1]

well, I ended up asking them to do the upgrade prep work, not the free one they throw in and it cost me a little bit more but it is there now and they told me it would be there about 2 weeks. I hope that they do a good job on it. I talked to some people that I know and they said they know the Maaco that I took mine to and they do decent work. Even the Maaco that I took it to told me that they would only take there cars to one or two other ones in my area and there are alot to choose from in Missouri. I really hope it turns out ok. I got pearl black and sunset orange metallic done on it.

 

[Blacksheep Josh]

time will tell. if it's going to take 2 weeks, then i'm hoping they do do a good job. when i went for a quote a few years ago on my s-10, they said it was a 4 day turn around.

either they're backed up really bad at yours, or possibly they'll take the time to do it right.

good luck, definitely throw up some pictures if you can

 

[FROADER]

"You get what you pay for."

They are definitely capable of doing nice work there. You can get an el cheapo job from Maaco, or you can get an expensive/nice paint job from Maaco. My uncle got his '64 Galaxie 500 XL painted at the local Maaco the original Sky Blue 12 years ago, and it still looks amazing. He took off all of the trim, but Maaco did all of the prep work.

 

[Paraphoe]

I feel like I'm one of the few who had a good experience there. My father had our old Lincoln painted there, one of the $500 paint job deals. They did an excellent job and the paint looked great and lasted as well, up until we sold the car, which was about 3 years or so down the road. I guess like many have said, it depends on the shop. We had zero complaints.

 

[MONMIX]

but also some have a more detailed eye than others.

Meaning knowing what to look for in a quality paint job.

I can think of a few times people have shown me thir paint jobs and remarked what a wonderful job it was as I am finding flaw #2,627

 

[ringpop1]

I called them today and told them that I wanted to see the prep work before they started spraying and they said that was fine. I went up there today and the prep job that they had done is very good. They sanded it down and primered it good. I am sure that I will get a decent job out of the shop. My buddy got his Mustang painted there and they did a really good job.

 

[guilateen]

hey Ring any update on that paint job?