I had my '75 painted @ Maaco long before this Forum, so it's the ORIGINAL MAACO SHARK Paid $385 back in '90, 15yrs & 44,000mi ago. Several forum members have seen it and can't believe it.
A good paint job is 80% prep, anybody can paint.

 

I have used Maaco in the past several times, but it was all 10-15 years ago, so maybe my $299 paint jobs were a little better than todays $299 job. Two things matter when doing a Maaco job, the shop you go to and the prep work you do. There were 2 Maaco's by me back then, one sucked and one was good. I also stripped all trim and bumpers and did tons of wet sanding and minor body work myself on both cars, so I was very happy with the results both times. One car, a 72 AMX javelin, won a trophy at a local show with a Maaco job (77 corvette yellow was the color, if I remember correctly).

 

I had my '93 Stealth painted by Maaco, and it came out looking great. I actually got many compliments on it. I wet sanded the whole car with (I think) 1000 the day before ... took a few hours. They do use cheap paint though. It was starting to fade after 3 years un-garaged in the FL sun which I didn't think was too bad. (Heck for $250, I'll take it back every 3 years) There was no cracking, peeling, or orange peel. You should pull all the emblems and lights off because they will not. They'll just mask everything.

And they will let you bring in your own paint. I learned that 1 day too late. Just don't expect a discount.

 

Rule #1: Get to know the manager!!!!!!! Look at his work
Rule #2: Wait for their Premiere to go on sale for 1/2 price (Feb/Mar)
Rule #3: Don't expect show winning quality for $300-600.

Had my 81 color changed from Mahogany to Bright Red by Maaco, talked with the Mgr for over 1 yr before bringing her in. Flipped thru his brag book of cars they'd done, asked to contact some of the Vette guys. He had his best guy paint it under his supervision and only he moved the car. He was pretty proud of it, I was happy to have a Red Vette. It's a 10ft car, but as driver/cruiser Maaco did right by me

 

Best paint jobs from Maico happen when car owner does own prep....exception being some of Maico's "better" shops...

 

Some of you guys have said to simply wet sand and wax to bring the life back into the current paint job. Does the wet sanding work better than using a compound and buffer? What grit paper do you use?

 

First I would use clay bar...medium...then use buffing compound..the clay bar will lift impurities/grime out of paint and surface will be very smooth...ready for buffing...then you will know..

 

It's the next step so to speak. If you have problems too deep to be addressed via buffing alone, then you can move up to wet sanding. I wouldn't use anything less than 2000. Keep the surface misted down constantly, do one panel a time being VERY careful around the seams and edges. You can still cause damage even with 2000 grit. Get a nice, even haze over the whole car, then go back over with a buffer and compound to get the shine back.

 

Problem is when doing this if you have dead paint especially lacquer paint you will still have problems. Sometimes you buff it up and it looks pretty good only to lose its luster in a short time again. I say if you can't afford an expensive paint job you may as well take it to Maaco. Like I mentioned before I have used them quite a few times but not on my collector cars. My daughters Blazer and a Van that I still own done 6 years ago still looks good, outside everyday, no fade. Just some rust coming through on a 21 year old vehicle. I have 2 more vehicles that 1 I am in the process of doing body work on a 79' Chevy short bed pickup that will go to Maaco when I am done and a Black SS Monte Carlo that I may chance taking there once sanded, primed and stripped in bad areas. Also some minor body work and a little rust work. I can paint myself and have no problem mixing paint and priming, have been doing it for year. Have also done a quarter panel or so with color but have yet to paint a whole vehicle and probably won't, to much work all at one time. Like I said before if you are going single stage have them shoot it with urethane paint. With the cheapo paint job they use a Synthetic Paint and I think it is because of this paint you hear of all the fading problems after a couple of years.

 

Just as another option you may be able to ask around and find someone with their own spray booth at home who will paint your car for a reasonable price. This may be a good compromise between Maaco and a higher end painter. I know a guy who use to work at a body shop. He built a paint booth at home and does other cars for a very fair price. He also takes the time to professionally prep and paint the car.

 

Oh no argument there. I always think of wet sanding + buffing as more of a stop-gap measure than a real fix anyway. If it just means it'll look good for another 6 months or so, then no biggie you're only out $20 for supplies and a half day of work.

 

This is great, thanks for all the replies. I am going to go down to the shop this weekend and look at a 69 they just painted. I will ask about the urethane paint as well.

The body on my car isn't bad at all. There are maybe 4 or 5 small hairline cracks including the ones by the rear window corners.

If I were to have maaco paint it I would take the tail lights out, corvette and stingray letters off as well as the luggage rack (I dont know how difficult the luggage rack is). I wouldn't really have much time to do prep work and I haven't ever done it before so you may see another post if I decide to do it.

honestly the cars paint is very very flat and the quality of it indicates it may have been an earlier maaco job anyway, I have no idea but it certainly isn't great.

I will also get another shop to quote and see what they think about just buffing it out.

 

Just make sure they don't paint over an 80 grit prep....that was my point about some of these lower end shops...speed makes them money..