maaco quality?

I am thinking of going to get the ambasador paint service at maaco for 250 bucks, saw it on tv today.

anyways, I always hear crap about how maaco sucks but noone I know actually has been there.

so I am wondering why all that talk, is it they dont do good body work, or is it just that the paint is cheap or what?

because I am going to do all my body work, so I dont have to worry about that, I just need to know if they can spray well?

I am just going for a basic white paintjob because thats what it is and I hate when the engine bay/door sills/etc are different colors and Iknow 250 wont include that.

also, anyone have an idea of where to move the gas filler to? I saw a show eclipse once where the taillight hinged out and it was there, I just dont think I could fabricate all that myself, but cant think of anywhere else, thought about it being behind the plate, but the hatch is preytty thin and dont know what to do about it folding down. I am making it a 2 seater so could put it inside but then if I ever overflow or anything like that id be getting such a headache from them fumes.

I got a macco paint job, my car got keyed and i had to get it painted so i went with macco and canged my car color to prowler orange. The paintjob was of pertty good quality, overall they did a good job but there are some spots where they did mess up on, but over all the painjob was tight. I always get complimented on the color and the paint job. Its not perfect but it works. The door sills were still that crappy aztec green so i sanded and primered that myself so that its black to match the interior, it looks pertty tight. But nothing beats the custom paint job though.

What state are you in? I have had my car painted in phoenix by Maaco and it turned out good. I didnt buy the $250 slappy happy paint job though. I see some of those come out looking like crap. I will be trying the Maaco in Peoria Ill soon. Ill let you know how it turns out

sofast - you live in P-town? I'll be down there this weekend for a friend's wedding? Let me know if you want to meet up.

Maaco seems to vary by store and aslo the different paint jobs they offer matters alot when my dad got his CRX painted got top of the line at the local (lansdale PA) one and WOW it was a aweseome job done very well but i know ppl in other areas have crap jobs done bu them.
So i would say try to find out if your local one is good or not.

PS that 250 doesn't cpver prep so be ready to pay more

couldnt be too much more just to tape off lights and windows though could it?

cuz I am gonna take it in there with a perfectly straight body, and probably primered.

and I am in WA, probably going to everett.

My bf had the front end of his eclipse painted at maaco and at first it looked ok, you know just barely skimming over it. But after getting it home, we noticed they had done a shitty tape job and over sprayed just about everywhere. Not too much but it's enough to notice. There is white paint on the headlights, in the engine bay and even some down on the brakes and suspension. It probably depends on the store you go to though. Oh and just for one fender and a bumper was 995 dollars, and that didn't include priming for us.

no offense but you guys got raped, you payed maaco 995 for painting one fender and one bumper. plus they got paint everywhere.

I can go to professional collision which does GOOD work, and have like 15 small dents in my hood repaired, a custom bumper installed and a fender ding repaired, all that painted rosewood brown metallic for a little over 1k, I think it was like 1068 or so.

at maaco they have 4 hours of body work and paint for 400 sometimes.

My dad and my brother have both had cars painted at maaco, so did i a guy i work with. The paint looks pretty good for about 90 days (top paint package) then the clear coat and paint starts to chip and fall off. I dont know how it is everywhere else, but here you can get a better job and a big name shop for not that much more. My dads van came back a different color the first time and he had to do it again. So if you want your car to look nice for a long time, pay a little more and have someone do a good job.

"If it sounds too good to be true, than it probably is."

I asked my friend, who works at a body shop, if he knew anything about Maaco paint jobs. He recommended I not take my car there due to their poor quality. Here's why he told me they are so bad:

Maaco doesn't focus on quality. Maaco focuses on getting as many cars done as quick as possible and as cheaply as possible. If you think about that, then would you really want them doing your car? These aren't the kind of guys who worry if they did a good job or not. They're also not the kind of guys who consider that the owners of the car to know very much about paint. Maaco's target customer is a low-income owner who simply wants the car to look "decently normal" again.

I understand you're trying to take the cheap route, but it's only gonna bring you more problems in the end. I say, save up and go to a REAL shop.

Just my :2cents:

well, I wasnt looking for anything GREAT, but I am thinking now of just doing the body work/ prep it, tghen when I go to california have my grandpa "help" me spray a single stage white on the car. he told me once If i did most or all the body work and payed for materials and helped him he would spray my car for me. I might5 go base clear depending on how much paint goes for but my neighbor used to work at a boy shop and said I could probably get a decent single stage white for about 100 bucks/gal. and a gallon would be plenty for my hatch.

he told me real god paint can be over 100/liter. then same for the clear.

That sounds like a MUCH better plan than Maaco

well, he only has an open carport so no matter how good he is at spraying and how well we prep it, it wont be perfect there either. but my neighbor painted his bug in his open carport and it turned out pretty good. and they both have about the same setup, carport comes off of the side of the house so only 3 sides are open, and they both have a shed blocking over half the back open space. except that my grandpas has a house only about 20 feet away, our house is at least 50-60 feet away from his open side, plus dogs play in both our yards and we live where pine needles and pollen are constantly and its not like that at my grandpas since he lives in a trailer park. so it should turn out better there. I just gotta wait til I work a bit or sell my truck to buy the electronics to shave the handles, but I wanna finish my interior first so that I only have to put it al together once, not take it apart to run wiring later since it is all painted, want to have the least possibilities yto scratch it all up. got half painted and now Im just looking for dash/etc.

I got money to do it all but I dont wanna spend my money that is saved or Ill have to go back to work sooner.