Hey guys. So I think it's time I actually did something about the exterior on my car. The car looks good from far, but up close, it's far from good. Bumper needs to be replaced as well as a headlight cover, the rear hatch paint is faded, doors are faded, etc.

I've been looking around trying to get a decent quote on paint and yikes. Paint is ridiculous. Trying to find someone to paint it, twice as ridiculous. I called Caliber Collision, they won't paint it because it's 21 years old. They recommended me to another guy who said he wouldn't paint it because it's fiberglass and not sheet metal. This is getting out of hand. Called another shop who finally agreed to give me an appointment to have it checked out, then I finally caved and thought maybe I'd try maaco. Shockingly, they were the nicest out of everyone else. Which got me interested and curious.

How many guys have had their C5 painted through Maaco? Or have had a car painted through Maaco for that matter? Single stage is $500, 2 stage starts at $1500. Hmm, might be worth it? I heard Maaco has good painters since they paint so many cars, I heard it's their prep work that sucks?

Anyways, if you've had your vette painted at Maaco, let me know! Need some reviews! Thanks!

 

A good paint job is expensive. I wouldn't take it to Maaco. Chances are you will be disappointed.

About 10-15 years ago, I had a friend that actually worked at Maaco. He was a prepper not painter. Anyway he got his fox body mustang painted for dirt cheap. I think he just had to pay for materials. Some mega buck house of colors chameleon paint with metal flake etc. There was all kinds of grit under the paint, runs, just so many flaws. It was a really poor job. And he worked there! Some random walking in off the street would have gotten an even worse result.

Even if you have connections, I think a decent, but not show quality paint job befitting a Corvette is gonna cost at least 5k. Without knowing anyone, the market rate is probably closer to 10k. A paint job for 500 bucks, even 1500 bucks, is going to look shitty.

 

 

 

I hit a deer with my pewter vert and there wasn't much damage really but it cost about $3500 to have it fixed but it only involved hood and fender. They did a good job and after talking to them about redoing gravel chips on another car of mine they were saying that without seeing the car just paint alone would run about on average $500 a panel.

 

So, I'll be the other side of the coin.
Many years ago the clear coat was peeling from my 9 year old C4 daily driver. While I was out of town, my two sons had Maaco paint the car as a surprise for me. They paid about $600 in 1995 so it was apparently Maaco's better quality paint job. The only issue was Maaco forgot to flip the headlights to paint the part of the headlight bezel that is rotated inward when closed. Took it back, they took care of it. Kept that C4 another 12 years and the paint still looked good (and held up better than the original GM paint job).
Guess it really depends on the franchisee and whether they are committed to doing a good job.
Was it as good as a $10,000 paint job from a Corvette paint expert? No. Was it show quality? No. Was it a good paint job for a daily driver? Yes.
Am I universally recommending Maaco? No. But, if you want an inexpensive paint job (the old “5 foot” paint job), then maybe they are worth considering. BUT, hang around when the cars are coming out of the paint shop and see what they look like. Ask for references. Google that shop and see what comments there are. See if there are any BBB complaints, and if so, were they resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
Good luck whatever direction you go for painting.

 

 

Have you checked out a wrap ?

 

I recommend this guy!!

https://video.search.yahoo.com/searc...1&action=click

Just kidding..

Maaco is going to be a crap shoot at best.

Wrapping might be a more viable option, if the car is high mileage and as you describe.

 

As far as price, it is a great deal. I painted my C4 myself in 2012 and ended up with about $800.00 in paint and materials. I had plenty of left overs but I wanted to be sure and have enough.

As far as quality goes I agree it is going to be a crap shoot. I also would search out the particular shop and see how they stack up in reviews.

I cannot believe how much $$$ painting has increased since I started painting Corvettes in the late 1960s. $150.00 to $200.00 in paint and materials back then.

Good luck with your job.

 

it also depends on the Maaco shop for sure. I had them paint a C3 vette I had and it turned out awesome. With that said I spent well over 100 hrs in prep time. I also talked them into letting me do the masking. Most of the Maaco shops know how to spray.....but do nothing in the prep. I did this back in the mid 80's and it was winter down in Orlando. I spent a day outside their shop doing the masking and getting it ready for the both. The only thing that was left in the interior when I got there was the drivers seat.

 

If you are looking to go with an inexpensive paint job, Maaco would fill the part. A good paint job is going to cost a lot more than $1500.

The suggestion of a wrap is not a bad idea as it could possibly be had for the same as a Maaco paint job. Worth looking into.

If you do decide to give Maaco a try, then for sure check out examples of their work and talk to past clients to see how well the paint job has held up. Good luck.

 

Where are you located, and how bad does it look now? A photo or two would help. That said, I've had an inexpensive paint job done by a local motorcycle painter who had little to do during BikeWeek (though not to the Vette). I'd bet money there is a local shop that will do the paint for more than Maaco but less than the big dollar guys.
The Maaco episode of Undercover Boss was sadly eye-opening, but others have done it with acceptable results:
I tend to find Google reviews are pretty telling. Googlemap your local Maaco, and see what the posts say. We have three in the Orlando area ranging from 3.8 stars to 4.3 stars. As always with Google, subtract one star for the ludicrous weighting system they use, and you still end up with an overall happy customer base.

 

Most likely the price of a paint job has gone crazy because painting contractors work mostly with insurance companies. Easier to hike up the price dealing with insurance companies than individuals. Contractors are then stuck with a price point. They can't lower their price and then justify their higher prices to insurance companies.

 

Seems that everyone overlooks the prep work. If you do a good job of the prep work, odds are the paint job will reflect that.

 

As said before, Maaco is a franchise so check out their work, very thoroughly. I took a fiberglass camper shell to the Maaco in town and had it painted, and they did it twice F'g it up both times. First time the color was off 20 shades. The second time it was worse and I flew off like a kite with a broken string. They told me to calm down or they would call the police. Gave them a check, loaded the shell and went home and canceled the check. I give them five middle fingers up. Would I let them paint my Corvette? I'd have to think about that. By the way, the second time I went to pick up the shell I saw a Black Chevy truck they just shot. Had runs on the drivers side from nose to tail. Uh-oh!

 

I spent 200 hours hand block sanding an '85 Jaguar XJ6 one winter, had Maaco shoot it black, and it turned out pretty good for $700, not great, but pretty good; serviceable, if that tastes better going down...BUT I DID ALL THE PREP WORK. Any monkey can shoot paint with HVLP; the devil is in the details. Monkeys aren't as good with detail work I still had probably 50 hours of post paint corrections until it was acceptable to my standards, but it was perfect when it was all said and done.

That was the last time I will ever hand block sand a car. The 10K plus for a decent paint job is 100% justified.

In my honest opinion, if you're gonna leave it all up to the paint shop, body work and all, Maaco is better left for your Cavalier, or your astro van, not anything that's worth a damn.

As for the business owners telling you they won't do it because it's fiberglass, or because it is too old; THAT IS SOME CLASS-A HORSE S$%T. EVERY SINGLE QUALITY PAINT SHOP I HAVE EVER BEEN TO IS USUALLY FULL OF CLASSIC CARS, AND OLD STUFF. They sound like insurance gougers to me, and you should stay away from them regardless.

For a little background, I have been painting cars on and off since I was 17, and continue to do it as a side hustle into my 30's, so I have a pretty good handle on this.

 

I had a Bronco painted at Maaco back in the mid 90s. Within six months the paint on the hood was peeling off. I went back to the shop and they said it was the Ford primer underneath the paint, and not their fault. I almost got into a fist fight with the manager.


Note that I didn't get their cheap service. All told I spent almost 2K OTD for this job 20+ years ago.


This is a corvette we are talking about. Don't cheap out on it.


Shakey

 

Going to Maaco to have your Vette painted is akin to taking your Vette to Jiffy Lube. They draw from the exact pool of experienced painters and mechanics.

That said, many years ago, my wife leased a Lexus and at her work, she fired an employee. He came back and keyed the entire car. The lease was up in a few months so I took it to Macco and they did a very good job.

As said before, its a crap shoot.

 

If it were me I'd go to the local cars and coffee events and ask around as to who to use for a moderately priced but still respectable paint job.

I would alSo contact the local corvette club in your local area and ask those guys.

I'm not a member of my local corvette club but I sometimes go to their local corvette shows. They invite me to their local dinners and other events. They are the nicest guys.

Many of them have older less valuable corvettes and they understand the balance between a good looking paint job and price ....

After all that...I would say I've had older sports cars painted by Macao...I think the last one was 299 ...lol

I had some illegals do the body work in Brooklyn while visiting my grandparents on weekend...it came out good. I did the prep work to the best of my ability ....and had Maaco do the paint. (They also did whatever normal prep work they do)

That car looked great for years....

The rare sports car , a Lancia scorpion with hundreds of thousands of miles wasn't worth more than 3500 dollars at the time when I eventually years later sold it....but it looked good..

All depends what your car is actually worth. How many miles are on it...

Traditionally I'd only spend 5 or 10 percent of its resale value on a full paint job on an older car...

If your talking c5? What are identical mileage c5 s going for on Craigslist. ?

Then figure out how much you should spend on the paint job?

I don't know how to properly prep composite body panels....so I'd recommend a search on that subject...I would have the paint shop also do their normal prep work as they paint any car even if I tried to do any prep work..

That's where the detail is and where the labor hours go towards a nice paint job...

Spraying the paint should be easy.

Sometimes the workers of a body shop do work on the side for less money....

You can ask around where to get painting supplies...wholesale...stop over at the shop and ask them if they know any guys local who paint cars...

Hope this helps...

These are just ideas I would venture into I feel I were looking for a relatively inexpensive paint job..

I'm not a paint quality fanatic...To be honest I have a hard time seeing what orange peel is...

So take my suggestions with that in mind...

If it was a c4 corvette worth 5 grand. I'd spend 5 hundred on a maaco paint job and I'd do as much prep work myself as possible after researching what that would entail.

If your c5 is worth 10 grand? I'd spend closer to a grand...

One last thing...before painting...I would buy a hundred dollar griots orbital polisher and some menzerna one step polish and see what some time and effort will do to bring back the paint work. I've done that more often when you would originally think a paint job was required...and the car comes out looking brand new and not needing a paint job at all.

JMO

Good luck