new paint job - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

93XLEcamry · 10-31-2007, 01:23 AM

i wanted a new paint job.....unfortunately as a college student i am low on funds......so i was thinking of going to Maccos for the job.....does anyone have any past experience with them....and do you recommend them???.....i know it will be a crap job...but as long as its better than what my paint looks like now....thnx TNers

bigbird · 10-31-2007, 01:33 AM

well u got the "crap job" right. if u want to have a macco paintjob last then u MUST prep the car yourself, sand and prime and platicize the plastic then take it to them. thats what they are known for screwing up is the perp work since it eats up the most man hours.

***eyeball96*** · 10-31-2007, 03:27 AM

U get what u pay for! Don't expect perfection from any cheap paint job!....but like u said I'll look better than it does now...not necessarily! What color is the car now?

shingouki808 · 10-31-2007, 03:47 AM

I've seen Macco's work before. It's partially the fault of prep work scince they're instructed to do the least amount of prep, and to try and cover up what they didn't prep with paint. No matter how bad your paint looks now, it will look 10 times worse when their paint starts to flake after having the car back a week or so. That, and if the runs or overspray isn't really really noticable and you don't notice it till later, (after you've left their shop) they'll tell you that you're on your own. If you can wait a couple of days, I can show you a picture of a civic my friend bought, (not knowing that macco painted it)
that has almost complete car oxidation, cause they only put on 1 coat of paint and 1 coat of clear........ The funniest part about that story, some of the parts where the paint chipped off, actually show the original red paint in pretty good condition, and almost no sanding to it........... Just remember, no matter how cheap it is, when it comes to paint and bodywork, you'll regret it in the end. If you get really desperate, have a friend help you for a day and prep the car yourself, and shoot a couple coats of black primer. If you can't bare to live with that for a while, then shoot a couple coats of clear and it'll look decent till you're ready to get it done right.

rebel8ball · 10-31-2007, 04:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 93XLEcamry

i wanted a new paint job.....unfortunately as a college student i am low on funds......so i was thinking of going to Maccos for the job.....does anyone have any past experience with them....and do you recommend them???.....i know it will be a crap job...but as long as its better than what my paint looks like now....thnx TNers

why do that? you can go to almost any autoparts store and buy duplicolors new paint system for about 20 a quart, not a huge selection of colors but so long as you can prep decent and all why not try something new yourself?

ghettosled · 10-31-2007, 06:52 AM

you get what you pay for. i got a cheap macco paint job on a previous car. they painted over my old pin stripes, there was tons of over-spray and the paint looked and felt gritty.

Maim Menu · 10-31-2007, 09:20 AM

NEVER go to Maccos. I live in Quebec we don't have these, but I've read countless thread about people having these amateurs paint their cars to boost up value and be forced to buy it back because of Maccos shitty work getting them into legal shit.

You would be better off painting the car yourself, because you will car more than them.

95PimpingCamry · 10-31-2007, 11:03 AM

With something as expensive and important as a paint job, either do it right or don't do it at all. Macco is just a waste of $.

Heat · 10-31-2007, 12:02 PM

If you are low on funds, why are you wanting to spend money on re-painting your car? It’s a 15 year old car, don’t put any money into cosmetics. Just live with what you have.

Besides, when you graduate from college and get a real job chances are you’ll be picking up a new car – keep this paint money for use towards the down payment on that car.

bigbird · 10-31-2007, 12:15 PM

down payment...psh. BEER money!!!

nunyadamnbiz · 11-01-2007, 09:21 AM

If you are looking for show quality...NO...but if you have some rust, sun spots, blemishes, etc...then for the money its a great deal....I did get a Maaco job on a different vehicle, and it lasted good for the 3 yrs that I had it after that...for the price=good deal

Kep · 11-01-2007, 09:36 AM

Check out the following thread:

did the $50 rustoleum paint job

If you are meticulous and patient you could paint it yourself with good results and it would last. This kind of job done right will probably last a lot longer but Maco's job will probably look better in the short run.

Kep

TMetalMan · 11-01-2007, 12:16 PM

Back in late May of this year I managed to hit the gas instead of the brake while going into a parking spot (I blame lack of sleep and extra stress), and hit a tree that was in front of me (wasn't going very fast). The damage was a cracked bumper, messed up bumper cover, the front of the hood was pushed down a bit and scratched badly, and the left turn signal and headlight were cracked. My dad and I fixed the hood ourselves (now it looks perfect), but I had to buy a new bumper cover and bumper.

So I took the Camry to Maaco, and was quoted $600 for bumper cover, bumper, painting of hood and bumper cover, and proper installation/alignment of both new headlights. The guy at Macco told me it would take about 5 days, it actually took closer to 12 days for the whole job. But the night after I got the car back, I discovered that they failed to install the new bumper/impact absorber THAT I PAID FOR, and the headlights were FAR from aligned. So the next day my dad went with me to Maaco to raise some hell and get things straightened out. Long story short, Maaco is NOT concerned with making things right... They claimed they had no space or time to redo what they didn't do, and told us to bring it back in a week (while driving on it with an impact absorber that wouldn't do its job in a crash). My dad got them to finish up the job, and actually supervised them. My dad and I still ended up aligning the headlights ourselves.

Fortunately the paint is still holding up 6 months later, although it looks like road debris is chipping the paint on the bumper cover a bit (not noticeable, though).

MIC0417 · 11-01-2007, 05:57 PM

I don't remember where the article is but Rust Oleum oil based paint in the can work extremely well. You have to prep it like normal, but you get high density foam rollers like what you would paint a house with and just roll the paint on. I have seen pics and they look extremely good for less than 100$. The only downside is it's time consuming and you need a garage to do this in

Maim Menu · 11-01-2007, 06:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MIC0417

I don't remember where the article is but Rust Oleum oil based paint in the can work extremely well. You have to prep it like normal, but you get high density foam rollers like what you would paint a house with and just roll the paint on. I have seen pics and they look extremely good for less than 100$. The only downside is it's time consuming and you need a garage to do this in

Also if you plan on having a really good roller paintjob you have to wet sand/colorsand and then polish the paint when it dries, then roll a couple clearcoat layers and polish again. But you WILL need a buffer because polishing rolled paint is not easy. I've seen amazing paintjobs too though.