maaco paint job.

[mike in tucson]

We did some work for one of the 3 major automotive paint suppliers a few years ago. I asked one of the engineers about Maaco paint vs. paint you buy at an auto body supply.....he said very few things were common.... the maaco paint was designed to a price point and had very little UV stabilizers in it. It is specifically designed to be easily sprayed and to look shiney when you pick up your car. That's it.....nothing else. However, if you keep your car in a garage and it doesnt get exposed to a lot of UV (like sitting in the parking lot at work), you probably can get a decent service life.... just like several posters have said. Red and silver would go really fast. IF they are painting a car for $400, the paint has to cost perhaps $35 and the 1/2 sheet of sandpaper $1. Some masking paper and tape probably add $14 so they have $50 in materials and maybe twice that in labor. A fast taper can do a car in probably less than an hour. Scuff the paint takes another 1/2 hour or so. Shooting it maybe 3/4 hour including cleanup. Untaping and detailing adds another 30 minutes for a labor total of maybe 2.75 hours. Around here, they may pay their gun operator $20, rest of them, $15. Without overhead, the labor should cost $45-50 total so they have $100 in the paint job.....give them the benefit of the doubt and say $150 in material and labor. Overhead adds 100%, leaving a profit of $100 per car.

[bobH]

As posted, depends on what you want, and the guys in the shop. I have one friend in my local EFV8 group that has had 2 cars done by them, with excellent results. He did the prep, both cars. Both cars have won numerous awards at shows, and his 40 Merc even got a Dearborn. No problems with the paint.
Another friend recently had an IH truck done by them. They did EVERYTHING, total disassembly, all glass out, strip to bare metal, and put it all back together. Months. It came out beautiful, and it also has already won an award. So... it depends.

[Scott H in Wheaton]

I managed a Maaco in the late 1980's.

We did a lot of production work for the sandlot "buy here - pay here" used car dealers.
We also did a bunch of insurance collision work.
A fair amount of hobbyist re-paints.

You are better off if you don't need any body work at all. Also, remove as much trim, lights, bumpers, etc as possible, even if it means you have to trailer the car there. One smart guy with a Corvette had done all his own disassembly and sanding. He made cardboard templates to block off the taillights and door handle holes from the inside to minimize overspray. Came out very nice.

Ask the shop manager for a tour. Tell him you want to meet the sander, the masker, the painter, and the detailer. Let each one know what car you have and tip them $20 as a "thank you for working on my car, its kind of special to me". That extra $80 will probably double the quality of the finished job.

If you want to bring your own paint you can. Most Maaco's use a lesser quality product line from a high volume paint producer, like Nason or Western which I think used to be a step down from Sherwin Williams top of the line stuff.

If you plan to take the car to Cruise Nights let the manager know you will be showing off the shop's work. It will be their chance to showcase their work. Might not get you a better price, but you don't go to Maaco for price, you are trying to get them to pay more attention to your car rather than run it through the assembly line as fast as they can.

That Undercover Boss was typical CEO, he didn't want to hear what is really going on, he wanted a Pollyanna view of his company saying 'we are high quality' and 'we don't cut corners'. One could argue that painting a car without stripping it is the biggest 'cutting corners' of the whole process.

[deuce_roadster]

I have painted quite a few cars and at today's prices, $400 wouldn't cover the primers (catalyzed primer sealer, catalyzed primer surface) and sandpaper let alone the topcoat.

I understand why car flippers and used car people use Maaco for profit margin reasons. I think they just quickly sand or scuff pad the existing paint, shoot some sealer on and then the color.

[Scott H in Wheaton]

Originally Posted by deuce_roadster

I have painted quite a few cars and at today's prices, $400 wouldn't cover the primers (catalyzed primer sealer, catalyzed primer surface) and sandpaper let alone the topcoat.

I understand why car flippers and used car people use Maaco for profit margin reasons. I think they just quickly sand or scuff pad the existing paint, shoot some sealer on and then the color.

Yes.
Its called "scuff and shoot"

Wash the car
Scuff the paint with scotchbrite or sandpaper
Blow it off
Mask it
Roll into booth
Paint with pressure pot, custom mixed color on site
Roll into oven and Bake it
Unmask, blow out interior, do the windows, send it down the road

[Walt Dupont--Me.]

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One of the best paint jobs I did on an old 66 ford winter beater was with floor and deck enamel, brick red, about 40yr's ago, I think it about 20 bucks a gallon. I figure if you can walk on it, it ought to be good enough for a beater. you ain't going to believe how nice it came out. OK don't believe if you don't want to. LOL Walt

[rotorwrench]

A lot of floor and deck coatings are polyurethane or acrylic urethane. I still remember when you could by a gallon of the best stuff for less than 100 bucks. Now days its closer to 500 bucks.

[B-O-B]

Sherwin Williams Implement paint. Single stage ,tough, shiny & easy to use ,best of all very reasonable.
My wheels are painted with & they custom made it.

[Mike B]

You can prep the car...pull te fenders, etc, request them to fill the dings and such in the metal...they will..you can ask (and get) primer base, then topcoat, or request base coat clear coat,,,yes, maybe more than your 400 dollar paint job, might run you 1500 (did for me last year) but dang, no way I can spray paint like those guys who do it daily.

Just ask ahead, tell them what you want...the Manager?...I guess, will tell you what's possible and what you can expect, plus, they have the guarantee...if not no the write up, then you are out, but if written into the estimate...you're in good shape.

Took my Camaro back 3 times to get it "as stated", an no way I could have done it myself that way.

[Rand]

I remember Earl Shieb....sand your chrome and paint your windows.. lol!
My son painted his Ranger red with Summit single stage paint for well under 400 bucks and had the satisfaction of doing it him self at 18 yrs old. And Pa (me) watched and smiled from ear to ear watching him learn.
Do it yourself! Randy

[mick]

Interesting .....for a driver .....what do you all mean by a " good prep " ?
Thanks and happy New Year !

[Scott H in Wheaton]

Originally Posted by mick

Interesting .....for a driver .....what do you all mean by a " good prep " ?
Thanks and happy New Year !

Do as much as you can on your own to prepare the car for painting.
Lots of info out there when you look for it.
Basics:
Wash the car
Take off whatever chrome, handles, lights, bumpers, emblems that you can. They hide dirt and are difficult to mask.
Wipe the entire surface to be painted with a grease and wax remover.
Sand the entire surface to be painted, and wash the car again.

[Sixseven]

A very salient point that should be made here is that the buyer must not fool themselves into any position other than they get what they generally pay for. Expectation and deliverable must match! Expecting high quality and paying for the $19.95 Earl Shieb is the buyers problem.

I'm with Rand - try it yourself, but beware of the toxic compounds in the paints and protect yourself.

[std1940]

My first repaint of my 40 was done by Earl Shieb in the early 60's in black baked enamel in Malden Ma for $29.95 and lasted into the early 80's.

[bobH]

I put Earl's 19.95, any car, any color, on a 49 Ford, in 1955. The car and the paint job matched perfectly. That's one car that I don't long to have back. Actually, I think the paint job was too good for the car.

[FLA48]

Don't know about now, but the Maaco in OKC at one time always had street rods and antiques in their shop for all types of work.

[barnfind]

I used production shops a lot for daily drivers or "profit cars" but I always did the prep and body work.
They always came out better than I could spray but look the cover over carefully on the lower panels where it is harder to spray.
Select the best grade of paint they offer but don't expect to get a warranty if you do any body work. Ask them to mix up an extra pint or quart of paint for your touch up if needed.

[Karl Wescott]

Originally Posted by B-O-B

Sherwin Williams Implement paint. Single stage ,tough, shiny & easy to use ,best of all very reasonable.
My wheels are painted with & they custom made it.

Excellent point.

Painting cost is going to boil down to 3 things.
(Labor) Cost of body work.
(Labor) Cost of painting prep work (masking, disassembly, etc)
Cost of materials and (labor) application (often not painting door jambs, etc).

Obviously a cheap shop has to skimp on labor so will usually not have top quality results. If you do your own body work and prep right you can save the labor.

There are very good and low cost implement and industrial paints available, however they are usually designed for durability and may not have the shine of higher end paints and have a LIMITED number of colors available (Green + Yellow = John + Deere)

[dick lyons]

Not a maaco reply, but I went to our local high school vo teck body shop with a 46 merc coupe about 7 years ago. I did a lot of the prep work myself. removed all the trim, bumbers ect. The took a coule of months to complete it in a midnight blue 2 stage with good quality paint. cost was for materials only. About 400 bucks. I was happy with the results. And the kids were happy to work on an "old hot rod"

[woodiewagon46]

Years ago there was a company call Earl Schribe, (not sure of the spelling),"I can paint any car any color for $69.99 was his radio commercial. One of the guys did all the prep, removed all the chrome, lights, and everything he could do himself, on his '55 Chevy. All Schribe did was paint, and nobody believed him that thats who painted the car. It came out great.