Paintscratch.com or Maaco job?

[JWood]

Has anyone used spray paint ordered from paintscratch.com or a similar company? If so, what results did you have? Could I expect a reasonable touch up?

Also, Maaco runs a 50% off sale from time to time...anyone have comments about their $500 job that could be bought for $250?


My 93 (dark blue) just looks awful with huge blistered looking chunks of peeling paint on the hood and roof flaking off.

 

[MONMIX]

what sort of results do you want ?

If you want unnoticable, like show room quality, run, dont walk away from Macco.
Remember what your Mama taught you. " you get what you pay for "

 

[huskyfan23]

I got a Maaco paint job a few years ago. It's nothing special, but is holding up pretty well. $800, 1/2 off.

 

[JWood]

I understand that Maaco is not top of the line; But my God, the job that Ford did on my 93 Ex is just horrible. It looked great for years and was always well maintained - then all of sudden it's like it just started to dissolve!

I'm sure you have seen other 1st gen Exs along with Ford Aerostar vans that have pathetic original paint jobs.

With almost 200k miles, I am just curious if the rattle can or Maaco job would be worth the effort. I am guessing either one would look a hell of a lot better than the way it is now!

 

[huskyfan23]

I think rattle can will just cover it up for a little while. If it's cracked it needs to be repainted. Maaco would probably suit you.

 

[metstalker]

go with maaco my dad tried the rattle can paint job on my sisters car and ended up going to maaco in the end as for first generation paint jobs mine has held up pretty good but the fact that it was garage kept for first 10 years makes a difference

 

[MONMIX]

again it depends on your desired result.

Macco is okay at best.
Not a lot of longevity, fine details will get over looked. Orange peel, dirt nibs, runs and sags. It is all part of the job.

A higher end shop will remove all the trim and mouldings and emblems, fix the dents and dings, and wet sand and buff the end product.

Again you get what you pay for.

 

[aldive]

Again you get what you pay for.

Sage advise. Quality paint job is NEVER cheap.

 

[j602]

Sage advise. Quality paint job is NEVER cheap.

Most people will tell you Maaco is crap and you should never go there. I beg to differ. I think the quality of paint jobs Maaco puts out depends on the locations. I have a $300 Maaco paint job on my truck and it's great. They did a nice job. No overspray, glossy, uniform coat, and attention to detail. I'm completely satisfied with it; and besides, why pay for an outrageously expensive paint job when you'll probably end up scratching it up? ESPECIALLY if you do any type of offroading.

 

[B94Sport]

I have a friend who took his Fiero to Maaco for a paint job. Yeah, it looked alright from a distance, but then you got up close and noticed that they actually managed to paint over bugs that were on the car at the time of paint application. If you're painting a '93, then the paint probably wasn't that great looking (ignoring the chips) to start with, so maybe you'd be happy with a Maaco job... It's all subjective.

 

[Premier]

With my old car, I got an 800$ Maaco job. It started to flake off in 2 months, so I had to take it back fo repaint. Did that twice.. Fawk maaco.

 

[huskyfan23]

I guess your locations suck. Mine even painted the door jambs. I haven't had any problems that weren't my fault.

 

[j602]

Did they charge you to paint the door jambs?

 

[huskyfan23]

Nope!

 

[j602]

Fawk, they wanted to charge me $75 a door to paint them! That was my only complaint, and I took care of this recently with some herculiner.

 

[Premier]

My door jambs were done also. They just did a ****ty job, and even if it was that one location, I will never go back.

 

[Brian_B]

My friend has his painted by maaco. They had paint on most of the window trim/rubber and overspray everywhere. After a few months, it started peeling off too. Just huge patches all over, like it was never sanded. Pf course they didn't fix any dings or anything either. He got what he paid for.

 

[DeRocha]

It all comes down to what your expectations are. IMO most people painting a first gen are trying to get a descent paint job to make it look normal; they are not going for an $8K show quality job (having a paint job worth 3x book value is crazy unless you have $$$ to burn or can get it at a discount).

 

[j602]

Exactly DeRocha. But again, IMO it's all in the locations. My advice: go up to Maaco and check out the vehicles that have recently been painted, and decide for yourself the quality of the shop. Ask around, talk to people who have had work done there, and see what their opinion is. You'll be able to get a good idea for the quality of work your local Maaco does.

 

[Stic-o]

My advice is if cost is a issue, heres some tips.

Do the prep work your self. anyone can sand, primer and mask off the car with a little patience.

Remove all the xtras, lights, antennas, grill, bumpers roof rack. (if it's not there they can't paint it.

When looking for a paint shop, ask to see some of there work. There's always a few cars that we're just painted, if there isn't take a hint.

I hope this helps