boydrm
Member
I got my car back from MAACO last week. It came out pretty good.
MAACO PAINT JOB!!!!!!!!!!!!
- Thread starter nelson84
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boomdriver
Well-known member
Looks nice !
Its hard to get a good black finish, so I know it was'nt half-assed.
Many folks assume that MAACO means cheap...it actually does not. Its a production shop that won;t give you the detail that a private shop would, like total disassembly and individual painting of each piece, but they have their method and materials that do work well and well enough to warranty. Some states have more of a problem with the finish quality because of enviro laws that demand only certain types of paint be used. I've seen orange peel a real problem with the water-born paints in some places. They'd finish ok after wet sanding and clearing...an extra step that solvent based paint usually does not require.
I got burned by a MAACO shop in Ca back around 1995 where I paid the shop mgr close to $1000 cash for the level of paint that price warranted. He gave me the bottom dollar paint job and split town after having done the same thing to a few other cash customers. That was'nt MAACOs fault. I wish they (the company) would have been willing to step up and make it right but they would'nt. They claimed that it was a franchise shop and they were not responsible for any fraud or other illegal activity by the employees. Basically they did'nt own the place and could'nt be held liable.
Gotta love corporate structuring.....Franchise = insulation from liability.
Took a few yrs for the bad taste of that experience to wash away. But since it has, I recently got an est on totally stripping and repainting...Around $2500. Not a give-away but not the cheapo deals that everyone has come to expect from production shops, aka Earl Schieb "paint any car for $39.95" kind of places... A private shop would ask for closer to $4000.
The MAACO quote was also with ME removing all the trim, moulding and headlite doors & buckets, things like that.
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C
Corvettedude95
Guest
My dad had a car painted
At a Maaco in Louisville KY (not sure if it's still there) back in the mid 80's. It was on his '75 Monte Carlo. It was painted Metallic Green if I remember correctly. He had it for another 5 years and sold it. I do know that it was as shiney when it left the driveway, as it was the day he brought it home.
Would I get a paint job from Maaco? Yes I would, but only after seeing some of their work and getting a warranty on the paint job. Matter of fact, my Corvette could use a paint job but there are no Maaco's around here.
At a Maaco in Louisville KY (not sure if it's still there) back in the mid 80's. It was on his '75 Monte Carlo. It was painted Metallic Green if I remember correctly. He had it for another 5 years and sold it. I do know that it was as shiney when it left the driveway, as it was the day he brought it home.
Would I get a paint job from Maaco? Yes I would, but only after seeing some of their work and getting a warranty on the paint job. Matter of fact, my Corvette could use a paint job but there are no Maaco's around here.
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nelson84
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With a Maaco paint job you have to take care of it or you will have problems like any other non factory paint job. I don't recommend using a pressure washer and don't leave it out in the weather. I keep mine inside with a cover on it and it still looks good.
4LT GS Roadster
otfl
Another Happy Maaco Customer
My local Maaco painted GAIL, and I have documented it pretty extensively. Happy Reading...
http://www.corvetteactioncenter.com...forum/102957-gails-first-week-paint-shop.html
My local Maaco painted GAIL, and I have documented it pretty extensively. Happy Reading...
http://www.corvetteactioncenter.com...forum/102957-gails-first-week-paint-shop.html
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KANE
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;squint:
Gerry's story has a lot of pictures shows from start to finish the attention to detail- and care the shop took to get it right.
I'd advise any member to visit every shop they are considering to look around for the same thing: good results and work in progress done right. No-name shops can screw up just as easily as chains (been there!!). It's the people who work there that make or break the result.
Actually... it is a great read. 
Gerry's story has a lot of pictures shows from start to finish the attention to detail- and care the shop took to get it right.
I'd advise any member to visit every shop they are considering to look around for the same thing: good results and work in progress done right. No-name shops can screw up just as easily as chains (been there!!). It's the people who work there that make or break the result.
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catbert
Moderator
Reading is fundamental.
...and a picture's worth a thousand words!
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nelson84
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- 84 Z51 two tone bronze coupe 85 black on black
Speaking of pictures, the maaco I went to had a big photo album of cars they painted, and they looked great. I have an old chevy pickup 1990, and about 2 years after I bought it the paint started pealing off. And that was a factory GM paint job, my maaco paint job is lasting a lot longer than 2 years. I think I am on year number 3.
racerxz51
New member
Can't say I disagree more. My car was in the Corvette and Chevy Expo here. Took home a first place trophy. The Maaco that painted my car has a portfolio of their top work. A few months before, a bike they did won at the Lonestar Rally in Galveston. A few hundred bikes were there also. Just goes to show-it's NOT the name on the shop, it's the people and the work they do. Some suck, some don't. Maaco's bread and butter as I said, and as was pointed out by the shops owner-cheapo no clearcoat work. That doesn't keep 'em from doing other jobs when they can. I almost refused to even check 'em out, but I'm glad I did and I don't regret it.
That was me a few years ago, reregistered after being awol, my paint job looks just as good now as then, very happy with how it has held up
Another great example. You know, when I first went out looking for a paint job estimate, I went to a local boat repair shop. My thinking was that these type of shops must have knowledge in how to work fiberglass. Well the local shop gave me their estimate, and it was in the low $12K.....:eek :eek
Another guy wanted to justify a $7K fiberglass and primer work (ONLY) telling me that he was an "FAA certified fiberglass repair person"....well wow wee!!! Excuse my ignorance!
At those quote prices, I was beginning to give it a shot my own self (I still have the stacks of 1k, 1.5k, and 2k grit paper and all other materials...
). Luckily, my local Maaco was able to help me.
Another guy wanted to justify a $7K fiberglass and primer work (ONLY) telling me that he was an "FAA certified fiberglass repair person"....well wow wee!!! Excuse my ignorance!
At those quote prices, I was beginning to give it a shot my own self (I still have the stacks of 1k, 1.5k, and 2k grit paper and all other materials...
). Luckily, my local Maaco was able to help me.racerxz51
New member
also. my MAACO painted Vette took home the 1st place trophy at the Chevy and Corvette Expo for 84-96 
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