$2300 Quote from Maaco....what do you guys think? (2 Viewers)

[Francis K]

It's not the paint job that's expensive it's all the body work, I'm having the rust at the rear hatch treated, small damage at the front repaired and every panel pretty much has peeling clear coat so they need to deal with that. Stock rack already came off thankfully no rust, rear bumper is already off getting ready for my NWTI one, steps are off I'm putting sliders, flares are off replacing them with kut snake, I have an ARB front on there that should be a joy taking off I'm sure and I'm taking the lights off for them. I don't need this thing perfect I'm just looking for decent but I didn't expect $2300 from Maaco.

What do you guys think?

Estimate attached....does this seem about right?

 

[OGBeno]

2300 is a STEAL.

 

[NCFJ]

I paid $1,700.00 for just primer & paint for a two stage, two tone paint job on my wife's 80.

 

[simple]

They are giving you a $700 discount and you are wondering if it is a bad deal? They quoted you a labor hour price of $45. I couldn't find someone to clean my car for that cheap and you're getting a paint job with a 4 year warranty.

 

[NLXTACY]

I have two 80s here that customers want painted. I don’t do paint nor body work. Not my wheelhouse.

Getting local quotes ranging from $12-15k for full to the metal prep and paint including jams and engine bay.

 

[musthave]

It’s a steal for what they’re doing. Don’t expect perfection, but don’t settle for less than good. Prepping is most important. IMHO. Good luck

 

[peacesells63]

A friend of mine got a $3000 paint job from maaco on his tacoma. He brought it in with the body work done and the truck in epoxy primer and it looked like a group of 12 year olds painted it. They repainted the truck again for free, after that it looked like a group of 12 and a half year olds painted it. I believe they ended up giving him his money back, or he sued them or something.

I also had a parts 80 years ago that was re-painted white over white by maaco - not sure of the price, but they didn't mask anything. There was overspray everywhere, they painted the window frames, didn't even remove the license plate etc.

They CAN do a quality job, but they wont charge any less than any other quality paint/body guy for the level of work.

Keep in mind materials alone for a quality 2 stage paint job are as much or more than your all in estimate.

 

[Francis K]

Okay okay haha my bad guys!! I'll keep my mouth shut and go get her painted!!

Now about getting that ARB front off.....should i park my forklift under it and just unbolt it??

 

[bencallaway]

I got my pride and joy camaro painted at maaco in the late 90’s. They did a horrible job. Painted the car 3 times and never got it right. Some lowlights I remember: overspray all over my new wheels, unpainted rockers (they said the painter was too fat to get that low, and all 3 times they ran the engine before the paint cured and the fan jacked up the paint all around the hood/ between the header and hood. They did lots of body work and it was all terrible. I mean horrible. The rust came back within a year.

If I did it again I would completely strip the car, remove all rubber and glass, do all the body work, prime it and provide the paint.

Pic for context

 

[simple]

They probably saw that outfit and figured you were blind enough you wouldn't notice the bad paint job. Is that a berlinetta?

 

[Francis K]

They probably saw that outfit and figured you were blind enough you wouldn't notice the bad paint job. Is that a berlinetta?

haha cold blooded!

 

[bencallaway]

They probably saw that outfit and figured you were blind enough you wouldn't notice the bad paint job. Is that a berlinetta?

The Berlinetta wasn’t introduced until 79. Mines a 76. 305 2 barrel/th350. I built a 383 for it my senior year in high school. Bought a 3.73 posi complete rear axle from my parents plumber. Car ran a strong 13. Miss that thing every damn day.

 

[bicycleagent003]

I got my pride and joy camaro painted at maaco in the late 90’s. They did a horrible job. Painted the car 3 times and never got it right. Some lowlights I remember: overspray all over my new wheels, unpainted rockers (they said the painter was too far to get that low, and all 3 times they ran the engine before the paint cured and the fan jacked up the paint all around the hood/ between the header and hood. They did lots of body work and it was all terrible. I mean horrible. The rust came back within a year.

If I did it again I would completely strip the car, remove all rubber and glass, do all the body work, prime it and provide the paint.

Pic for contextView attachment 2893901

That's a sweet pic. Very period. I had a 1963 Chevy Corvair with a 1966 140HP engine which was my first car, and which I built the engine for when I was 15. I loved that car and was sad to sell it years later. I have zero pictures of me with that car. Bummer. I'm glad you got at least one good one. Cheers.

 

[Mrtwooooo]

I think I paid like $500 to have this Maaco paintjob done back in 2005 when I started driving. It was crappy. They did end up painting it like 3 times and also coating the entire car in grey overspray. Up close its pretty bad and I probably only looks this good because it had some epic layers of wax on it. Don't expect them to do even a halfway decent job only because its Maaco. They could do something decent if they just tried a little. Right now I keep it out of the sun tucked away in the garage till I can get the transmission out to find out what is about to grenade itself.

 

[Heckraiser]

My last Maaco job turned out terribly. That's not even an accurate description, they flat out didn't do a good portion of the work I requested and paid for and basically just slapped some paint right on top of the s*** I was asking them to repair. No primer/sealer used, paint all over undercarriage, rust in new places where there wasn't before, etc. I would have tried to get a refund, but didn't have the bandwidth for small claims court.

Same shop did a good job on my FJ62 about 5 years prior.

I know every Maaco is independently operated and some are run by good businesspeople and actual body folks. But many are just "cover it up" specialists. I don't think I would work with Maaco again after my last experience.

 

[NCFJ]

If you have ever done any body and paint work you completely understand that there is very little gray area in body and paint. You are either going all in or you are painting over some crap. Most places like Maaco (remember Earl Shieb?) basically do a scuff and paint with poor masking and zero concern for overspray. Just do not kid yourself that you are going to get anything past that and you are fine.

The down side is that doing a nice paint job on a trail truck is counter productive. I just did this to my wife's truck. I am strongly considering flow coating her truck just for another layer of pin stripe protection. It now sits, waiting to be sanded, cut and buffed.

 

[lumbee1]

If you have ever done any body and paint work you completely understand that there is very little gray area in body and paint. You are either going all in or you are painting over some crap. Most places like Maaco (remember Earl Shieb?) basically do a scuff and paint with poor masking and zero concern for overspray. Just do not kid yourself that you are going to get anything past that and you are fine.

The down side is that doing a nice paint job on a trail truck is counter productive. I just did this to my wife's truck. I am strongly considering flow coating her truck just for another layer of pin stripe protection. It now sits, waiting to be sanded, cut and buffed.

So how much is something like this going to cost me Stan?

My clear coat patina is quickly fading to a purple urple mess. Out of all the research I've done, Maaco does a good job on 10% of the responses with a significant majority pissed about the paint job no matter the level or cost.

 

[NCFJ]

Hey Jonathan, can't help you in the paint department. The only paint I am doing is on full build trucks currently. That may change some time in the future but I am booked out a minimum of 18 months, probably closer to two years.

 

[gummycarbs]

I noticed that it lists the paint was "urethane + integrated clear". I don't think I've ever heard of paint listed like that. You usually do either single-stage (no clear) or base with a clear coat.

I repainted my 80. I used epoxy primer/sealer, some high-build urethane primer, and single-stage paint. The epoxy and paint were PPG Shopline (their cheap stuff). The high-build primer was U-Pol. For body filler, I used Evercoat Rage Gold, which goes on and sands so much nicer than Bondo.

It took about one gallon each of the epoxy primer/sealer and the single stage urethane paint to do the entire exterior and all the jambs.

I would say the total costs were around $500 - $700 in primers, paint, and filler. I probably had a good $200 into sandpaper alone!

Anyway, I'm just posting this to give an idea how it compares to raw material costs. I've heard so many conflicting anecdotes about the Maaco, Earl Scheib, and the like, that I would proceed with caution but not rule them out automatically. They're probably a great option if you want a utility paint job with a nice "20 foot finish". I wouldn't even consider them if I wanted an OEM or show quality base/clear paint job with deep gloss.

 

[FMC80]

I noticed that it lists the paint was "urethane + integrated clear". I don't think I've ever heard of paint listed like that. You usually do either single-stage (no clear) or base with a clear coat.

I repainted my 80. I used epoxy primer/sealer, some high-build urethane primer, and single-stage paint. The epoxy and paint were PPG Shopline (their cheap stuff). The high-build primer was U-Pol. For body filler, I used Evercoat Rage Gold, which goes on and sands so much nicer than Bondo.

It took about one gallon each of the epoxy primer/sealer and the single stage urethane paint to do the entire exterior and all the jambs.

I would say the total costs were around $500 - $700 in primers, paint, and filler. I probably had a good $200 into sandpaper alone!

Anyway, I'm just posting this to give an idea how it compares to raw material costs. I've heard so many conflicting anecdotes about the Maaco, Earl Scheib, and the like, that I would proceed with caution but not rule them out automatically. They're probably a great option if you want a utility paint job with a nice "20 foot finish". I wouldn't even consider them if I wanted an OEM or show quality base/clear paint job with deep gloss.

The low-end Maaco jobs mix their paint and clear which I was told is the reason why Maaco paint jobs don't last long or don't fare well when left out in the environment. I was going to do a Maaco job by one of our fellow mudders (he owns two in FL) but it is still going to be about $6.5K for the medium-level paint job and some bodywork. I may as well either go really basic for a few thousand less (trail truck mentality) or go all out for a few thousand more (mall cruiser mentality).