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I have a 2000 C5 that I have been using as a dedicated HPDE/Track Day car. I have done most of the work internally to get it up to snuff and just replaced the LS1 with a reman (Jasper) and after laboring over the decision long enough I finally decided to have it painted at a Maaco. This isn't a street car anymore and if it were I'd get a better paint job, but overall I'm really happy with the results. Is it a perfect paint job? Not even close. Is it the same as others, not quite. But for this cars purpose and the money it cost ($800) it looks a hell of a lot better.
1. Tires and wheels have overspray on them
2. Wheel wells are body colored
3. Window trim has the required 1/32 inch of paint where they meet the body
4. You will repeat the process in 3 years
1. Tires and wheels have overspray on them
2. Wheel wells are body colored
3. Window trim has the required 1/32 inch of paint where they meet the body
4. You will repeat the process in 3 years
That’s what I expected, but in reality the wheel wells are always black, the wheels don’t have any overspray and if the tires do I can’t tell because they are black and I fully expect I will need to repaint it again if it gets too much time in the sun, but for $800 it’s still a great deal. More than likely a track dedicated car will have plenty of chipped up paint on an expensive paint job anyway.
I will say there’s a reason they are still in business and the difference between this job and a $5k paint job is noticeable, but not always worthwhile.
Looks great for a track car! Much cheaper than a race wrap. My friend as quite a few cars painted there, he does the prep or pays the extra and they turn out pretty nice.
Chicago area people might remember this famous man:
Haha in college I had bought a TR 6 and took it to Earl Scheib and had it painted white. I only paid 650.00 for The TR6, so 59.00 dollar paint job seemed about right. Actually wish I still had that car.
Haha in college I had bought a TR 6 and took it to Earl Scheib and had it painted white. I only paid 650.00 for The TR6, so 59.00 dollar paint job seemed about right. Actually wish I still had that car.
1. Tires and wheels have overspray on them
2. Wheel wells are body colored
3. Window trim has the required 1/32 inch of paint where they meet the body
4. You will repeat the process in 3 years
Not always the case. And yeah, your post is probably tongue-in-cheek to a certain extent, but there IS a way tp get a decent Maaco paint job for those on a budget. I've seen it done twice and one of the cars still looks good 6 years later (parked outdoors). The other car looked good when he sold it several years ago.
1. Maaco is a franchise and some are better than others. Look at the jobs performed by the ones in your area. you don't have to look at many to see the difference.
2. Prep your own car. I can't stress this enough. Places like Earl Scheib and Maaco make their money one production, so prep is where they suffer (hence the overspray on the wheel wells and tires (and lights and glass). Mask it completely yourself. Remove turn signals, taillights, any trim, etc. Rub it down with a wax remover solvent and scuff the existing paint with a scotchbrite pad, then clean it with the solvent again. Trailer it to the shop.
3. Give it some love when you get it back. Polish it yourself once you get it back and the paint cures for a little while. Wax it with a high quality wax.
It won't be a 10,000 dollar paint job, not by a long shot (though I've seen some questionable 10,000 dollar paint jobs), but I can guarantee that it will look as good as the factory job, or maybe even a little better.
Not always the case. And yeah, your post is probably tongue-in-cheek to a certain extent, but there IS a way tp get a decent Maaco paint job for those on a budget. I've seen it done twice and one of the cars still looks good 6 years later (parked outdoors). The other car looked good when he sold it several years ago.
1. Maaco is a franchise and some are better than others. Look at the jobs performed by the ones in your area. you don't have to look at many to see the difference.
2. Prep your own car. I can't stress this enough. Places like Earl Scheib and Maaco make their money one production, so prep is where they suffer (hence the overspray on the wheel wells and tires (and lights and glass). Mask it completely yourself. Remove turn signals, taillights, any trim, etc. Rub it down with a wax remover solvent and scuff the existing paint with a scotchbrite pad, then clean it with the solvent again. Trailer it to the shop.
3. Give it some love when you get it back. Polish it yourself once you get it back and the paint cures for a little while. Wax it with a high quality wax.
It won't be a 10,000 dollar paint job, not by a long shot (though I've seen some questionable 10,000 dollar paint jobs), but I can guarantee that it will look as good as the factory job, or maybe even a little better.
I have seen a few Maaaco collision repair jobs. They were as good as any other body shop.
Looks fine for what you use the car for. It would be stupid to put a $10K paint job on a $10K car.
Sanity! Personally, I also think it's questionable to spend $10k on appearance mods for a $10k car - I'd rather sell it and spend the $20 on a C6. That's why mine looks almost stock - had to get wheels as both fronts had some "wobble" after many years of all weather use - including winter potholes. I could have looked for used ones, which might also have had the same problem, but Tire Rack produced good enough looking 18/19 ZR1 replicas at a very reasonable price.
Chicago area people might remember this famous man:
Had a few car done by this company. It all depended on who the painter and who was the prep person.
77 Grand prix pearl white. Great paint job.
79 Buick regal royal blue and it had orange peel and drip spots
76 Trans am black. looked like a $4000 paint job for its time.
That was just 3 of the cars I had them do. Just matters who was working the day of paint.
Had a few car done by this company. It all depended on who the painter and who was the prep person.
77 Grand prix pearl white. Great paint job.
79 Buick regal royal blue and it had orange peel and drip spots
76 Trans am black. looked like a $4000 paint job for its time.
That was just 3 of the cars I had them do. Just matters who was working the day of paint.
Also you don't want your car painted on Friday or Monday.
My 79 was painted by macco. It was my dedicated track car as well. The guy that prepped it and painted it worked at other shops in the past and had experience with vette. The car was black and the body was a complete mess. Much worse then the original poster's car. But for 1200 bucks it get a decent paint job and went from black to dark cherry red. It actually got compliments wherever I went....So for the money and use it was perfect....
St. Jude Donor '03-'04-'05-'06-'07-'08-'09-'10-'11-'12-'13-'14-'15-'16'-'17-‘18-'19-'20-'21-'22-
'23-'24
I have a 2000 C5 that I have been using as a dedicated HPDE/Track Day car. I have done most of the work internally to get it up to snuff and just replaced the LS1 with a reman (Jasper) and after laboring over the decision long enough I finally decided to have it painted at a Maaco. This isn't a street car anymore and if it were I'd get a better paint job, but overall I'm really happy with the results. Is it a perfect paint job? Not even close. Is it the same as others, not quite. But for this cars purpose and the money it cost ($800) it looks a hell of a lot better.
What makes you say this? What did they do wrong? What did they do right? $800 is nothing compared to a wrap or a paint job around here, hell, I paid $500 for just a hood repaint on my 02.
I had a 81 RX-7 painted by Maaco back in 89. I was stationed in Oklahoma City at the time and being an Airman, didn't have a lot of $. If I remember correctly, it was $500 as they did some bodywork. I was very pleased with the results.
What makes you say this? What did they do wrong? What did they do right? $800 is nothing compared to a wrap or a paint job around here, hell, I paid $500 for just a hood repaint on my 02.
I had a 81 RX-7 painted by Maaco back in 89. I was stationed in Oklahoma City at the time and being an Airman, didn't have a lot of $. If I remember correctly, it was $500 as they did some bodywork. I was very pleased with the results.
I wouldn't say they didn't anything "wrong" at all. I'm satisfied with my results, but if I had paid $5k I wouldn't be happy at all. In general I believe that you get what you pay for and from what I can tell thus far I've gotten more than I expected for $800. I don't want to misrepresent that this is an equivalent paint job to a "real" paint job and give the impression there isn't a difference. The body work could have been smoothed better and there are some spots that aren't perfect in that they taped and missed a spot here and there, but again for a few hundred dollars it's pretty stellar and a good value.
07-09-2019, 04:50 PM
Maaco Paint Job - Results
