Why is Maaco so cheap? - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

al b · #1 09-28-2010, 01:19 PM

I got three estimates to my car painted (85 300SD). Shop #1 $3000 Shop #2 $2500 Shop #3 (maaco) $1089.95 . I want to get my car painted, like anyone I want to save money and get a good job. Maaco undercuts everyone by so much its crazy! How good of a job do they do?

MattBelliveau · #2 09-28-2010, 01:29 PM

The paint job is only as good as the painter.

psychwarfare · #3 09-28-2010, 01:30 PM

Maaco has a lot of detractors on here and other "high-end" car enthusiast sites...

A lot of the quality depends on each independent Maaco as they're a franchise and can be independently owned/operated...

The cost cutting comes into play with the paint they use and the prep...

If you don't pay a lot...you end up with paint on the door seals and such...taping might not be done well...and it might be a single stage...

Maaco can do good work if you:
1)Find a Maaco in the area with good reviews
2)Tour the shop and get a feel for what the end product will look like and for the employees
3)Do a lot of prep - removing trim etc
4)Go with a base/clear job

There are other variables...but that's a good starting point

alabbasi · #4 09-28-2010, 05:31 PM

Maaco is a production shop. They have standard packages (enamel, single stage urethane, base / clear) which dictate the type of paint that they will use but they limit the prep work to just a couple of hours worth of scuffing and then masking.

The prep work is where the majority of hours will be needed, especially if you have dings or want to pull the trim off.

If you do the prep work yourself and have them paint it, then you could come out with a very nice paint job. The painters are usually pretty decent at what they do. I suspect that a Maaco painter paints more cars in a week then a high end paint shop will paint in a month.

If you plan to use a Maaco, micro manage the heck out of them. Make sure that after each step, they stop and they call you so that you can inspect the work.

If you follow this model, you will come out with a pretty decent job.

speednjay · #5 09-28-2010, 08:52 PM

hard to say..ive seen some really nice maaco paint jobs and some garbage maaco paint jobs. when i had a psycho girl kick my car up all the shops wanted 6-8k to fix the body work and paint..where as maaco wanted 1600. i was clueless as to how they were gonna fix the dents let alone paint the car as good as they were trying to tell me. i ended up fixing the car myself which cost 3 grand wihtout the paint. its hard to say..its s dice roll if you ask me.

Chad300tdt · #6 09-28-2010, 09:06 PM

My local MAACO does a decent job, but I tested them out with a few smaller parts first before I asked them to paint my SDL.

I paid $1700 for the two tone paint in 2 stage (metallic). They had to completely strip the top surfaces of the car due to the paint checking. They also filled a ding on my passenger door.

I saved money by not having them do the cut and buff. I'll do that step myself and it saved about $1500.

al b · #7 09-28-2010, 09:54 PM

My car has no visable rust but few spots that the paint has more or less chipped away (the front of the car due to the large bugs we have in Kansas). HA HA The prep work looks to be easy and it only has one door ding. I just could not get over how much cheaper they were. It almost scared me away.

jmk · #8 09-30-2010, 04:58 PM

Here is one of the other reasons Maaco is cheap.

Their paint quality is not as good. The materials they use are at a lower price point that what you would get in a high end shop. Now, an expensive shop can use cheaper paints (some times w/o telling you). Frankly, the materials for a high end job cost more than what Maaco charges out the door.

You have to decide if the car you are painting is worth the extra expense.

Marvelicious · #9 11-01-2010, 03:40 PM

I personally wouldn't let Maaco paint a garbage can, but I'm prejudiced. I have a couple friends in the business and used to help them out in the early days, so I've spent my time in a body shop. Everything from basic collision repair to award winning restorations. Everyone here is spot on about their advice on prep work, especially if there is any body work to be done. If you do it yourself, it'll get done - if you don't its a crap shoot.

If you've got any rust repair or significant body work, I wouldn't trust that to maaco.

bhatt · #10 11-22-2010, 01:20 PM

Had Maaco paint my '83 300SD about 10 years ago.

The car was worth $3000-4000 so I wasn't interested in paint jobs that were over $1000. I got quotes similar to yours (2000-3000, Maaco quoted $900)

They charged me $900 to fix up 4 dents, found some previous Bondo and removed it/repaired the panel, car had been previously painted (badly) so there was some prep work there too.

Here's what I did, and ended up with a GREAT paint job. Not a dealer-brand-new paint job, but I'd say 80-85% of what a new car looks like. Remember that to get a paint job in the 90-100% range will cost you MINIMUM $2500. And I'm picky... I told people this and they said "looks perfect to me.. why don't you think it's perfect?"

1. Took 1/2 day and pulled off ALL the stuff I didn't want them to mask/paint. On a W126 it doesn't take more than 4 hours to remove:
-four interior door panels
-lower body cladding
-window scraper chrome (base of each window)
-chrome trim on windshield and back window
-all door handles
-grille/headlight/taillights

I loosely put on the headlights and taillights, and drivers door handle so I could pull them off when I got to the shop and put them all in a box in the trunk. When the car was done, I quickly reinstalled and drove home.

I painted the lower body cladding and bumpers myself once the car was done.

Note that I didn't remove the bumpers as it was too much work. I figured if they got overspray on them, it was OK as I was going to paint the bumpers myself.

Bumpers and cladding were done with proper plastic primer and paint. Cost me maybe $30. Threw a plastic sheet over the entire car and painted the bumpers while installed on the car. Painted the cladding while the car was at Maaco being painted.

Reinstalled everything in a couple of hours.

2. (KEY to a good paint job!) Left a case of beer in the trunk. Told the Maaco manager that there was a token of my appreciation in the trunk for the guy who sprays my car. I think it was totally worth it

The key is to remember that you should remove everything you don't want painted. Assume they will paint everything and not mask (assume worst case scenario). Assume your tires will have overspray, etc. (as an example, I sprayed 3 coats of 'tire gloss' on the tires before having the car painted. Any overspray would have wiped off)

latitude500 · #11 12-17-2010, 12:38 PM

I had my car painted my Maaco about a year ago and I wouldn't have a problem with them painting my car again. They are right, 99% of the job is prep work, I ended up removing all the clear coat and paint myself in my garage and I removed everything I could from the car I didn't want painted. (trim, badges, grills)

And then I had the car towed into the shop and two days later, I had the car towed back to my garage. The car looks great, and didn't cost me that much. But remember your going to have to stay on them each step of the way.

tivoliman · #12 01-04-2011, 06:52 AM

I was at a GTG this summer by Philadelphia.

One of the guys suggested that he has all his paint work done at Maaco. Then to improve the look, he polishes/sands the final job.

He uses the 2,000 grit paper.

How can that help with the look of the paint job?

jmk · #13 01-07-2011, 05:38 PM

It is called wet sanding. Yes, you can make a car look fabulous if you know what you are doing.

There was a guy who used to do it to all the cars he owned back when I was in the paint industry. It was amazing how good they would look after he was finished.

That is how they get the cars at the auto shows to look perfect.

TheDon · #14 01-07-2011, 08:13 PM

It's all in the prep. I've never had anything done by maaco but I have done prep work for things getting CosmiChromed and after filling, priming, sanding, wet sanding, wet sanding to 2k grit. Then the chroming process, the proof is in the prep!

PanzerSD · #15 01-08-2011, 12:56 PM

Maaco is cheap, yes because of the prep. They cut ALOT of the steps out of a refinish job.

An insurance job would go like this at Maaco

Remove damaged part (fender, door, hood, trunk) If there's frame damage, they can pull it. light sand on new parts, spray primer/filler, blocksand, wetsand and paint. They'll mask off mirrors, door handles, whatever they can get away with not removing from the car. That's where they save time. No blending. For the most part they use a single stage paint, even for their metallics, whereas a REAL bodyshop would use a 2 stage paint (base and clear).

A Real bodyshop would do the rough out (metal work and fller), then prime, sand prime again, sand and wetsand, then paint. with time spent on blending into hoods and doors and such, with ALL parts removed from car, handles, ect.

Next day return would be only for the most minor refinish jobs.

Maaco's quality, is so-so. I wouldn't use them for any type of rust-induced refinishing, because they don't take proper steps to prevent corrosion.