So I bought my G35 about 6 months ago. Love the car. I got it for 6K mostly because the stereo was broken like always and paint issues. I put an aftermarket stereo in after reading about the bad stock one and I love it. One problem solved...

Now for the paint. There is like a softball size clear coat pealing on the hood of the car. It keeps getting worse. I also had some rusting on the top of the car by the windshield. It is to the point were water gets in the car when I wash it.

Good news... or bad news still not sure but the car was keyed one night by some kid driving a crappy old Civic. Insurance is going to pay to fix that and are giving me 1,200 for it. I want to go ahead and get the rest of the car painted as well.

Maco quoted 1,200 to do the whole car with the most expensive paint?

I took it to other shops and they range greatly. One decent price was 1,700. I am just wondering if it is worth paying the 1,700 or if that would be the same as Maaco and if I would have to use the dealership and pay 3k or so. I didn't get a quote from the dealership to do the whole car but I am guessing it's going to be pricey.

Has anyone used maaco here? If there a difference between the $300 and $1000 job at Maaco?

 

I had an '86 Cutlass painted at a Maaco back in the early 2000s - they had to strip most of the car to metal because the original finish was heavily crazed (GM paint sucked in the '80s), fix a few dings, and prime/paint the whole car. I removed most of the trim because the prep guys sometimes do a less-than-perfect job of taping stuff off. IIRC, I paid around $1100 back then. Here's a pic of how it turned out -



Before having your car done by them, ask for references, and see what kind of jobs they turn out. There are a few Maacos in my area, and the one that painted my car was also doing a '55 Chevy, and old Vette, and work trucks for a few businesses in the area. Their work looked much better than the other two I checked out.

 

I don't recall ever hearing anything good come out of Maaco...

 

They are good if you do the body and prep work yourself that's about it. I had a body shop quote me 2200 to repaint black with all the jams and some small dings removed. Worth it IMO to spend the extra and get something nice.

 

Sorry to threadjack, but I just got quoted $500 to paint a front bumper ($250 extra to fix a crack). Does this sound reasonable?

 

^^^
$250 to fix a crack in a bumper? lol a new bumper is $200.. The $250 for paint is spot on. As for the OP I wouldn't use macco if possible. If you wand to sell the car in a few year though, go for it.

 

If insurance will cover the repaint, why cheap out?!

 

Yea they are good if you do your own prep work. There water base "most expensive" paint is pretty good. I had my rear bumper painted by them b/c I was low on money. Still holding up nicely.

But I hear its best if you take you car masked for them or youre gonna have overspray and clear everywhere.

http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6019/6...b39932fe_b.jpg

 

i am interested in painting my car too. anybody here has done a whole car paint job at maaco??

 

i will have a front bumper for sale, caracicatriz. it's from a 2003 g35 sedan. let me know if you are interesed. its in BS color. no damage.

 

what kinda prep work are you talking about???

 

I can't speak from exp but I can't say I haven't heard any quality work coming from them. They saying "you get what you pay for" comes to mind. You might get a quality job though. I don't know

 

Ugh---spend the extra money for a Legit shop.

It's all about prep work like others have said...please don't go to maaco!

 

they are not paying for the whole car just 1,200 dolas... i wish they were though but thst's why i am looking for a decent price.

 

Well see that's the prob because the only shop I know to be legit is the dealership and I can't spend 3-4K there that more than 1/2 my car cost.

My question is I guess is would 1,700 from the one shop not maaco sounds like a legit shop or the same quality work as maaco. He said he has a 5 year warranty and has been in the business for 19 years. He took me back into the shop and showed me a few cars they looked good. He had some old trucks *** well as a BMW and civic. There was a large shed like thing back there were he sprays.