How can Maaco & Earl Schieb paint cars so cheap? Where do they get their paint from? Why does paint from the name brand paint suppliers cost so much? Is there really that big a difference in the quality, and in how long the paint jobs last? Has anyone out there had a cheap paint job done on a car and then kept the car for any length of time? How did it hold up? What happened to the paint? Some of the things that I would guess would happen to a cheap paint job, like crazing, fading, getting blotchy, ect. would look quite appropriate on a old looking traditional HOT ROD! In fact I'M always drawn towards HOT RODS that have that "been around" look, and will walk right past a bunch of shiny hot rods to go look at one! The less expensive a paint job you have on a car, the more likely you are to drive it a lot. Lets get a bunch of "cheap paint" HOT RODS out on the road...... there are enough shiny high buck hot rods spending too much time in their garages!
good work isnt cheap, cheap work isnt good with a few exceptions, most people who put pride in their work want good paint jobs.
Just because it's cheaper, doesn't mean it's better. These places make part of the low price up by skimping on prep. The future Cole Fosters of america are not going to be found there, sorry. They have an ***ortment of colors bought in bulk-costco style, and that is your only choice. No hok tangelo or candy apple red. Hot Rod did an article a looooong time ago where they had one of these places spray a 67 ford. It came out great. Why? The Hot Rod staffers did their own prep and masking, and provided their own paint. Most places used to allow you to bring paint. From what I have heard from people actually using these places, they won't let you use your own paint anymore. Don't you have any love for your car?
10 year old Maaco paint job on my '55. single stage metallic(no clear). It's never been wetsanded, but was machine buffed twice in the past few years, and waxed regularly. It's held up remarkably well. First car I ever did ANY body work on. We did all the prep, so all they did was lay the paint down(and thats what makes it cheap, they did NO prep). It's peeling around the edges of the hood and trunk where we didn't get the old paint scuffed good enough. All the other problems I've had are due to the body work underneith, not the paint it's self. It's good "driver" paint, but not "show" paint. About on par with any 10 year old factory paint job.
the **** hole i managed (i prolly shouldnt say the name) they didnt even wash the cars before painting just run over it real quick with scotch brite or folded up square sandpaper sometimes not even knocking all the mud from the lower rockers ...taped fast and loose shot it with the cheapest ****test dupont paint you can get, if it fisheyed , thru in some remover in the cup and kept shooting and pushed it out the of the booth.....of course i wouldnt put up with the customers feedback / i dont work there no more...stay away from them places , you dont even want to know what goes on in there!
I used to get cars painted by the local Maaco for quick crash work, or people who wanted decent drivers. I did all the bodywork, and prep (sanding) removed as much trim as economically possible. Bought my own paint (good quality enamel, with hardener), and talked to the PAINTER myself, not just the sales *******. Threw the painter an extra $20 (hey, this was in the 80's!). Always got a good job...they usually pay their painters well, and have a nice booth set-up.
My Dad had his truck (dailey driver) painted at maaco for $500. They did the prep and paint (no rust just different colors due to used panels). Turned out ok. Its been 2 years. I think I'd do the same.
I took an '81 Grand Prix to Maaco. I pulled all the chrome and lights and did a lot of masking and light sanding myself before giving it to them. They sprayed it with their standard yellow paint with a "wet look" additive and the car looked great. I kept it for a couple more years and it still looked good when I sold it. I would do it again.
This is a 5 year old MAACO enamel paint job. I did all of the prep, and they masked and painted it for $175.00 Mutt
I had a Caddy limo that had been sprayed B4 I got it with a cheap job. If you live in southern tier states, the amount of sun the car recieves is a factor; the two bottom rung paint job Maaco provides use what they describe as a 'synthetic' (don't ask me what that means - those are the paint guy's words) formulation. It doesn't have the same UV resistance as an OEM formulation... anyway, after having the Caddy for about 6 months, it started to chalk up something fierce. it was a dark blue metallic - it would haze over and require waxing every two weeks. Got so tired of waxing twice a month that i sold it. If you want a car with patina - buy an older restoration and rod it. A cheap-*** paint job is a poor subs***ute for patina.
My buddy took his old hot rod truck to Macco years ago (guessing 5 or more) anyways it still looks great today. Granted my buddy did all the prep and as much masking as possible (still had to drive it there) and frankly it came out pretty damn good. He said that the guys there were actually thrilled to shoot something "cool" and as a result gave my buddy their best effort. At the time my buddy was having "neighbor problems" so he did this as an easy way out. Home Run IMHO. Now to be fair my buddy's truck is garage kept, but not a garage queen. I don't know if he supplied paint or not - but I don't think so. Granted I wouldn't have super high expectations for long durability, but looking at my buddy's truck sure makes me think it's a pretty decent option.
had an earl schieb paint job done on a ride about 15 yrs ago,it turned out ok if runs and trash in the paint dont bother you,didnt have any problems with fading or peeling and the entire car was covered,a little thin in some spots but still covered,since then I have probably sprayed 3 vehicles with rattle cans that turned out about the same quality with about as much trash and runs in it,but it was a lot cheaper and I wasn't without a ride for very long!I might look into a job with those guys,I've got a **** load of spray paint,
That **** is true, I've seen the results.....don't expect those cheap paint jobs to last unless you prep it yourself.
I forget who suggested it, but a real cheap paint job is rustoleum applied with a 3" roller. I'm using that on a F100 I'm building. Strictly utility. Doesn't look as bad as you'd think. Most of the cost is materials to strip the old oxidized paint off the metal. For my '61 Comet S22 I will definitely use "real" car paint and spend a bunch of money.
I had a couple cars done by the local Maaco. I would always see the owner @ the coffeeshop in the morning, liked my Merc, became friends. I tell ya, $300 for the last car I had done, an Olds, and I loved the result. Dark blue metallic. I would recommend for sure.
Man-that is the TRUTH! I have so much respect for the oldtimers that didn't have fancy orbital sanders and other pnuematic stuff...
Info on painting with a roller. Some of the pics look surprisingly good. http://board.moparts.org/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=2331682&page=0&fpart=1&vc=1 Slonaker
everyone has a different opinion but but i think that if you want a quality paint job spend the extra bucks. you dont have to spend thousands of dollars on a good paint job, i painted my impala about 2 years ago with ppg base clear and i spent around a thousand dollars for paint, sandpaper mud and all other materials, i cand gaurantee taht 25 years from now it will look just as good as that day i painted it..... can you say that about a macco job???
The responces are great, and about what I expected. Do your own prep work and get to know the workers at the shop, and you can expect to get a good looking "driver" paint job. I'm sure not all shops are good, just check around (word of mouth is the best advertising). The worst part of painting a car is the mess (overspray). The most expensive part is the prep (not too hard for an amateur to learn), just lots of time. The guys at a place like Maaco spray lots of cars every week, and can do a paint job for less than the cost of materials at the name brand paint stores. Tell them up front that if you don't have any disapointments, you will give them a TIP.
Wow, I just read that thread on the roller job with rustoleum, slonaker. Thanks for posting that. I have a wrecked fender in my garage, and I think I just might give this method a try over the weekend.
I'll let you start the thread. Nobody will read it if it gets started by a FNG... The guy who was doing test panels in tan Rustoleum looked like he was getting pretty good results. Like steely, I have an old hood I thought about trying it on. I'm really tempted... Slonaker
I painted the Uglytruck with red rustoleum and a roller. Looks like ***. It did get rained on while still wet so it has all sorts of little craters in the paint. It looks way better than when I started however when it looked like 10,000 ***es. Not a good subs***ute for real paint.
I have contemplated getting a maaco job after doing the prep myself. I just want a factory look paint job nothing fancy. And it would be white paint. owuld maaco do a job as good or as ****py as the factory?
I've had a couple of cars shot by a local franchise - (Econo) My daughter was driving these to school and I figured she'd just ding'em up anyway. I did all the prep and took off all the trim. After I got the cars back I color sanded and buffed them. Both turned out really nice and I actually got a lot of people asking me 'who painted it?' It's all in the prep and detailing. And they do save a ton of money buying paint and thinner in 55 gallon drums. The last car I did myself cost me close to $1000 for all the materials, and this place painted these two cars for less than $200 each.
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