Maaco
 

Not me but a friend says he is getting his TA painted at Maaco. What are your thoughts??

There are some folks on here who have gotten outstanding results from Maaco.
The trick is to do your own bodywork and make sure it's ready for paint. Just as important is to choose the shop very carefully. They are independently owned and I wouldn't dare take my car there if I didn't know the shop's reputation.
I was going to take mine to one but was having some difficulty so I'm going to try it myself.

MAACO Paint job done in 2002. You can decide for yourself..........

http://i310.photobucket.com/albums/k...d/DSC03516.jpg

That doesn't look like the 1/2 price ambassador special $250 paint job .

Maybe their 1200-1500 top level , and then someone else did a cut buff glaze and polish ?

Whats the scoop John ?

I would agree Baron.

Most Macco paint jobs are a single stage paint job and to get a base clear coat is a lot more and I hear warranty work with them is a big hassle.

All depends on the particular Maaco shop, some are decent, some really suck like the one on Middle Country Rd in Selden.

John, your 'Punisher' '69 is the first example I thought of when I was posting. There are two or three more on the site that look great also....I just can't remember who belongs to them.

I've had a car done by them
you get what you pay for is what i can say
don't expect a pebble beach concourus paint job for their prices
for what we needed, it was ok
some friends had work done as well, again it's a you get what you pay for place

yes they are thin coats (VERY thin)
as with anyplace, good work ain't cheap, cheap work ain't good

as for doing your own bodywork then bringing in for painting, you'll probably struggle with warranty if an issue arises


my TA was done almost 17 years ago (Class Act in Selden, just down the road from Maaco), and i got a steal and half on it
i'd love to get it redone now, but man.... it's just so expensive
i remember the guy telling me, that it should be ok for maybe 2-3 years, boy... i've been lucky

most really good body shops won't even touch these cars anymore, unless you're ready for 15k+, and i can understand that

bottom line, if you seriously aren't planning on $15k+ don't get your hopes to high (this usually means some body work, decals, weather stripping, etc)

maaco
 

i've found that if you do the bodywork and prep you can get a decent job.Maybe even greese some palms,get a better job.Do your own masking etc.,but like anything else,if you want a good job you have to pay for it.

As an owner of a restoration business and painting cars on a regular basis I can say, yes you get what you pay for but even at that I have people all the time come to me and say they want a good driver quality job and I'll give them better and it almost never fails when I deliver the car they complain it's not a barrett-jackson quality job.

I would agree with you on you get what you pay for. I paid $5000 for paint and body work. I was able to help some which reduced the cost. That was in 2000 and 13 yrs later it looks as good as it did day one. base/clearcoat colorsanded and buffed.

I did get a good deal as my buddy owned the MAACO where it was painted. He was our major sponsor for my softball team back then and we did some horsetrading. The job billed out at $4200 back then which included some bodywork. The paint is single stage black with 10 coats of clear. They cut and buffed the car there. Not your $250 paint job, but still MAACO product.

Mine was painted at Maaco about 15 years ago now. The car was in pretty ruff shape to begin with, so I didn't see spending $4000 on a local paint shop to do it. For a car you plan on just being a driver, I don't think you can beat it. If you plan on a all out restoration, then no I wouldn't. I fixed some of the body myself, but had them repair some other dings and such, turned out good. After I added the decals, its a good 10 foot car.

A co-worker had his '64 Chevy Pickup painted by Maaco about 3-4 years ago. It was a $4,000 job. It looks better than several 10-12k jobs I've seen. I agree it's all in the prep work...and it helps when the franchise owner is a 'car guy'. I had a '66 GTO painted in '79 by a Miracle outlet in the Bay Area...the owner was a 'car guy'...my paint job turned out excellent. Used another Miracle outlet in 1986 on another GTO....the paint came out terrible. Never again. So, if it were me, I'd check for references on the particular MAACO you are considering.

Hi, I lurk here quite a lot and thought I would chime in. I have owned a MAACO (20 years) and all my TA's are painted at that location. I agree not all MAACO's are not the same and most MAACO's do not do restorations or high end work because it is hard to pay the bills doing that type of work in our system. I do them because I enjoy it and like the relationships I build with my customers.


Here is a link to my website

www.Nostalgiatransamspecialists.com

dave