Car Painting

[LuvOrlando]

I have never used a paint service like Maaco and was wondering if anyone has any experience with this sort of thing?

Our 2002 Accord is getting up there in years and my DH is bent on keeping it until it hits 200K. It just reached 100K this weekend and it looks it. It's a commuting car and the hood is full of scratches and dings from years of un-kind highway use. I get why he wants to keep it, to save $ on a car that gets abused anyway, but I was actually embarrassed to park it near the bus stop before shopping yesterday SO I went to Maaco and they gave me the lowest price at $350. Now when I was first talking to the guy he made it sound like I will see every ding unless I dump over 1,000 into the car for body work... I said do you not see the same car I see, it isn't worth $1000 so why would I put that much into it. Then he switched gears and told me that the least expensive prep & paint job would make it look a thousand times better. Now I'm sitting here thinking is it worth it or not. So if anyone out there has ever re-painted an older scratched up car please tell me what you think.

 

[Jeninindy]

I have never used a paint service like Maaco and was wondering if anyone has any experience with this sort of thing?

Our 2002 Accord is getting up there in years and my DH is bent on keeping it until it hits 200K. It just reached 100K this weekend and it looks it. It's a commuting car and the hood is full of scratches and dings from years of un-kind highway use. I get why he wants to keep it, to save $ on a car that gets abused anyway, but I was actually embarrassed to park it near the bus stop before shopping yesterday SO I went to Maaco and they gave me the lowest price at $350. Now when I was first talking to the guy he made it sound like I will see every ding unless I dump over 1,000 into the car for body work... I said do you not see the same car I see, it isn't worth $1000 so why would I put that much into it. Then he switched gears and told me that the least expensive prep & paint job would make it look a thousand times better. Now I'm sitting here thinking is it worth it or not. So if anyone out there has ever re-painted an older scratched up car please tell me what you think.

Never used Maaco type service so i cannot answer your question. However, your 2002 Honda Accord with 100K is still probably worth about 8K.......if not more.

 

[bdcp]

Maaco for their cheap prices they advertise, only paint and do not prime so the job doesn't last like it should. If you go with their higher packages, you can get a decent paint job. My DS has a 11 year old car that he plans to keep for a while (Honda Del Sol) that needs a paint job. He said he would prime and prep himself and then let Maaco paint it, otherwise, it wouldn't look as good if he didn't. He just doesn't have the money right now. The problem is a paint job might add a few hundred dollars to the value of the car, but not a thousand.

100k miles on a 6 year old car is high. That plus the body might not get you 8k, but the paint job will help for resale.

 

[drivencrazy]

Maaco can do good work... it really depends on the painter. But you probably don't want them to just spray it, you will want some prep work done to it first. Just sanding it down some, or some primer... or the new paint will pill off and not last long at all.

So for the $3XX.xx ask them what all they will be doing for that price. They may be doing some of the prep for that price. Also ask how long their painter has been painting cars!

If you just want it to look better, then you probably will be happy with the Maaco paint job!

 

[Green Tea]

I recently had one of ours partially sanded and repainted-not the entire car though. It was something like $2300 just for the hood, top and trunk lid. Take a look at some of the finished projects that got the less expensive job and make sure they look like you are expecting.

 

[happily single]

My ex works at Maaco and I have seen work they've done. I am very impressed. He did tell me that the difference between the different levels of finish are all the same. If you pay for the Ambassador you will still get everything the Presidental service gets.

 

[penguin087]

I had an older car in need of a paint job a few years ago. I got the $300 job. All they did was sand it and spray it. It wasn't the best paint job but it looked 100% better. I wasn't embarrassed the 2 more years that I drove it.

 

[RCBA]

Here they allow 1 piece of sandpaper to prep the entire car - that is not nearly enough! You pay for what you get.....

 

[LuvOrlando]

I appreciate the responses I've gotten so far.

I don't expect the 02 Accord to end up looking showroom quality but I would like some improvement. Right now its just awful... seriously bad. I do not expect to keep the car for more than a year or 2 so putting more money than a few hundred into it is a waste. Really, I am hoping I'll be able to convince DH we should get a new one this spring but since he's dug in his heels I don't think it's worth fighting over. I think the budget paint job might be a way to compromise. But I won't let vanity run me on a fools errand, if the cheapest job will still leave the car looking just as bad then it can just sit. Still, I do hope a cheap paint job could be an improvement. It would save us money because we own the car outright at this point and would be better off without another payment.

See how I keep flip flopping over what to do? Uggh

I thought the differences were in the body work, which frankly I don't care about. But some of you have talked about the quality of the paint job which I didn't think would be an issue. I wonder what happens to the paint as the car ages? Does it fade away or run off like one of my kids water paint school projects??? $2xx or so covers the basic paint. $1xx or so covers the basic prep. It has a 1 year warranty. As far as I could tell they have different prep packages and different paint packages and the only difference from 1 package to the next was warranty.

Here they allow 1 piece of sandpaper to prep the entire car - that is not nearly enough! You pay for what you get.....

Sand paper as prep work??? Are you serious or being funny? I have images of a guy in overalls sanding down my car like its a Boyscouts Pine-wood Derby Car funny in my head but not if I'm paying $100 for the prep work. For $100 I expect some kind of tool use. I could sand it down for $5 in paper from the store and 1/2 day out of my life


Bottom line question, do I go with the cheapest deal (spending more is better off saved for a new car) or let the car go until it disintegrates. What would you guys do?

 

[happily single]

Sand paper as prep work??? Are you serious or being funny?

Yes, that's how they do it What did you expect them to do?

 

[thomas998]

A cheap paint job will not remove the dents or dings... they will just shoot paint on to the car as is with minimal sanding... if you were going to sell it next month then the paint job would still look good... if you plan on selling it in 2 years the cheap paint job is not a good idea... by that tiem there is a good chance that the paint will have started to flake off.. a oxidized old paint job wont hurt your resale as much as evidence that you had a bad paint job that is flaking.. when you see one of those you just assume the car was in some wreck and had a hack try to fix it.

If your just trying to get it too look better, just take it to a detail shop and have them do a good wax and polish on the car.

 

[LuvOrlando]

Sand paper as prep work??? Are you serious or being funny?

Yes, that's how they do it What did you expect them to do?

I don't really know what I had in mind but I thought whatever they did would just have a little more pizazz. I mean, what if the guy has a sore arm on that particular day? I knew guys in HS who used fancy electric buffers to polish their cars so I guess I expected at least that much from a big name business. I am soooo glad I posted here, this has been eye opening to say the least and has totally given me somethings to think about before I go handing my money over. Sandpaper... I just can't get the image out of my head

Thomas998, maybe that is a good way to go to start. I bought some red polish some years ago that is supposed to fill in scratches and it does work. Its a pain to get on & off but it does work. Maybe I should go rent a power buffer and do it myself? What about compound? Years ago I remember folks using it but I never did myself... is it hard to use?

 

[flying_babyb]

I hear you can do it with spray paint and acrylic sealer. A auto tech told me this.

 

[4Seasons]

Bottom line, you will get what you pay for.

My husband is in this line of work (paints military equipment for a Navy contractor) and also paints/restores muscle cars on the side.

For $350 they have to provide supplies, pay the painter's salary, prep guy's salary and build in a profit. Painters with any type of decent talent or experience make WAY more than $350 just to shoot a vehicle.
Yes you can get automotive paint for "cheap" (these types of places buy standard colors by the barrel)........and it might look ok for a while but maybe 1-2 years max.
As with any type of painting, alot of the end result comes from the initial prep. You can't sand an entire car with 1 sheet of sandpaper, and they will not be using one little sheet folded up in their hand to do it. These guys are all about speed and volume. I'm not sure how Maaco does it, but in most body shops the guys who paint do nothing but paint (big man on the totem pole). They've worked their way up from the dusty depths of bodywork and prep. They will most likely have someone run quickly over the vehicle with an orbital sander just to scuff the surface. Otherwise if the car has a smooth surface, what will the new paint adhere to?
Once scuffed they'll blow the dust off the car with an air hose (vs. the correct way of using a tack cloth to get every bit of loose residue and making the surface completely smooth). I highly doubt they do a coat of primer for this price. The car will be quickly taped (and just the major areas like windows, etc. and they may not do the best job, I've heard of them painting over decals, striping, emblems, etc).

The painter will then come in and do a very quick shooting of the car. Maybe 2 coats, maybe not (you should ask how many coats of paint you get for $350). A quick untape, push the vehicle out and on to the next car.

I honestly don't see how they make anything for a $350 paint job.

The last time my husband painted a car he spent around $700 just for the paint (basecoat/clearcoat) and that didn't include primer, prep supplies, etc. He also spent a good 3 weeks prepping the car before it was painted (but this is also a rare muscle car worth about $50k).

I would ask a few more questions, ask to see an example of a $350 paint job and then decide. Oh and remember if you are doing any color changes at all (like doing just navy blue and not the original factory correct paint color code) it will be noticeable in the door jambs, underhood area and inside the trunk. They will only do the outside areas. And if you are doing a total color change it will look very odd (i.e. opening up the door on a white car and seeing red door jambs!). Prepping/painting door jambs and openings is very labor intensive (which turns into $$)

If you just want to have the car 1 color and don't care about quality or longevity/durability then it may be the option to you. Honestly if it were me I'd drive the car as is and not spend the $$.

 

[YoMickey]

2002 isn't that old. I bet there is a scrap yard that has a 2002 Honda accord hood in the same color. If it's the hood that bugs you swap it out and then take the whole thing to a detail shop. You'd be surprised at what those shops can do. I wouldn't invest money to paint a 2002 Accord.

 

[dakcp2001]

My friend let the local autobody SCHOOL paint her car, all she had to pay for was materials, and they kept it a bit longer than she would have liked, but when she got it bck, it was beautifully done, and looked brand new.

I'd call the autobody tech schools near you too see if they offer this in your area.

 

[ROIE01581]

my daughter had a 10 year old Honda Civic and it has high miles, the car got totaled and the insurance paid her $4.000 for it.
They hold their value.