Need recs for paint job on a 94 Camry

[mickey]

Hey,

My wife has a 94 Camry with only 80k miles. We just got through replacing ALL the seals on it, including the rear main. Did some other stuff too while we were in there too (timing belt and so on).

Anway, now we're looking to get it a nice paint job. It's white now and we ain't gonna change the color. The seals and stuff cost us quite a bit and we have only about $1,000 left to put into a paint job.

I don't know anything about car painting. What should we be wary of? What should we ask about the way they do it? I don't want to take it somewhere and get fast talked and screwed.

The problem with the paint is it got Malathion on it years ago and the resulting dark spots on the hood, roof, trunk are all the way through the paint so I guess we might as well get a complete repaint.

What can we expect for $1,000? Anybody recommend anybody in the Tampa area who can do a good job for $1,000?

Talk to me, guys. I need someone to take me to school on this.

Thanks,

Mickey

[mickey]

C'mon guys. Is it going to be Maaco? We can go $1200 tops.

Macco quoted $800 for their "top of the line" Signature paint job with the Prep Plus package.

[mickey]

30 or more people read this. No suggestions (other than don't go to Maaco)?

[oldschool98]

I called back and left message-- so try me again!!!

[mickey]

C'mon guys. Don't make me go to Maaco. We can go $1200 tops.

Macco quoted $800 for their "top of the line" Signature paint job with the Prep Plus package.

Hey,

When I posted this originally I said Maaco quoted us $1200. Then I changed that $1200 to $800 and someone PMed me and said "they thought I had a $1200 quote from Maaco."

The guy had offered to match the original Maaco price but said he coouldn't match the $800.

He didn't say so but I think he may think I was trying to pull a fast one. I'm not... and Maaco is getting the job.

There are 4 different Maacos here in the Tampa area.

They are franchises and can price how they want.

I went to another one this morning and am looking at the estimate sheet right now.

I'm retired from the local Sheriff's Office. My wife still works there as a dispatcher. It came up in conversation and the Maaco guy "warmed up" immediately and told us he might work in some price adjustments plus a 10% "LEO" discount. I was at a third Maaco later in the day and was told all the local Maacos offer law enforcement discounts.

Here's how the new estimante breaks down:

Value Prep - $50

Signature Service - (the best paint job they do) Fall Sale - $719

Gold Pin Stripes - Applied (not painted) - $20

10% Law Enforcement Discount Applied

Totals
Paint - $710

Sublet/Env (whatever that is) - $17.99

Tax - $50.96

TOTAL $778.96

Full Warranty for 2 years/Pro Rated after 2 years up to five years.

He walked us to the car as we were leaving and I told him I'd give $50 to him personally if he would keep an eye on the car as it went through the process.

He said it was absolutely not necessary.... but I insisted. And, beleive me, I'll duke him the extra $50 if it comes out right. And I bet it does.

Here's the Maaco description of the "Signature" paint job:

"Our highest level, Signature service wraps your car in two layers: a base coat for pigment and a urethane clear coat. It’s state of the art for look, durability and maintenance."

The Value prep gets it sanded (to a certain extent, I suppose) and primed.

Hey, the car is my wife's work car. Spending a lot of dough isn't justified. I'm betting we get a decent paint job for our $800.

What do you guys think? I'll post some before and after pics when it's done.

Mickey

[pure_kustoms]

^post pics in one year. and it wont look like any job done by a professional,... good luck,..

EDIT: thanks for the call out....

just some jobs I have done....
again,
thanks
john.

[pure_kustoms]

MAACO complaints

^ check out the link
i am tired of crap work being done and people that are trying to make a living on doing quality work get put down for asking for more money then Maaco,.
Go ahead and get your car painted there, and take it back damn near every year or two to have it re-done, from loss of color, peeling, cracking or whatever will happen to it,....

the question is,
how many times do you want your car laid up for a week or two, ( at least ) before you get a quality job done by a pro!!!.

every person has learned this lesson in paint and body,...
I know that if any "REAL" paint and body people read this,
they will agree,..

[pure_kustoms]

30 or more people read this. No suggestions (other than don't go to Maaco)?

because you dont want to listen

[bdeitemeyer]

Well good luck with your Maaco experience.

[pure_kustoms]

Well good luck with your Maaco experience.

+1
anyone else have that "great" experience? talk to any good body and paint man and you will find this to be true.

[ibidu1]

Did you already get the car painted? I got two shops I know if you want

[mickey]

30 or more people read this. No suggestions (other than don't go to Maaco)?

because you dont want to listen

BS, bro. I posted that BEFORE I had any replies so don't tell me I don't want to listen! Nobody was talking... there was nothing to listen to!

And yes, I'm sure I could get a better paint job for $2000 or $3000 but it's her work car. It's a 94 Camry. It ain't a show car. We're not trying to impress anybody.

And yeah, I'll post some pics after the paint has been on it a year, and I'll post pics every year thereafter in the interest of fairness.

You need to chill amigo. What's wrong? Is your biz going down the tubes? If that's the case, it ain't my fault. Maybe it's a tough economy or maybe your a real hard ass who chases customers away.

So far, there have been 10 additions to the original post.

4 of them (including this one) have been mine.

There also have been 1 each from two different forum members.

Then there's you, with 4 replies, each of them some derivation of sour grapes.
That tells the story as far as I'm concerned.

Again (now read this closely, pure kustoms), I'm sure I could get a better paint job for $2000 or $3000 but it's her work car. It's a 94 Camry. It ain't a show car.

Do you get it now?

[oldschool98]

I called 3 times -left message, and pmd you! Macco will welcome you with open arms and a jar of vaseline!!

[mickey]

I called 3 times -left message, and pmd you! Macco will welcome you with open arms and a jar of vaseline!!

Grady,

You PMed me with your phone number. I called you the same night and it wasn't a late night call. I got your voice mail and left you a message.

By the time you got back to me I had been to the first Maaco. I looked over the equipment they used and two of their "Signature" paint jobs that were waiting to be picked up and they looked pretty damn good.

I made up my mind to go to another Maaco and do the same thing and call you IF I decided (guessed, really) that you might do a better job.

The second Maaco seemed to be better run than the first AND they offered to do the same job as the first Maaco for $400 less.

They are 7 miles from my house. You are well over 50 miles. I can watch Maaco every step of the way and have the car back in three days.

(By the way... I PMed and heard back from 2 guys you did work for and they were VERY, VERY happy with the work you did).

Anyway, it just came down to my getting the job done faster and for less money and no hassle of driving some distance to drop it off and pick up. It ain't a personal thing.

We'll just have to wait and see about the, er, lubricant aspect of Maaco. I've read a lot of the Maaco complaints. Here's what I think:

They are franchises and some do better work than others. Most of the complaints I saw came from their cheapo $300 paint jobs. I didn't see any gripes at all about the "Signature Series" paint jobs. Not one!

The majority of Internet posts about large companies (not just automotive, but UPS, Apple computers etc.) generally seem to be negative.

This is because people tend not to post things like, "They do a good job and I'm satisfied with them." People bitch when something goes wrong. It's human nature. When they get what they pay for, they generaly have no comment.

Maaco franchises have been around for a long time now. They are only as good as the people that run them. I would think that if all Maacos sucked, they would have all gone out of business by now. Word of mouth is big, huge in this age of the Internet.

I'm getting the best level paint job Maaco does at a considerable discount from what they normally charge.

No, it won't be a showroom job, and it probably won't be as good a job as you would have done. But I don't expect that for what I'm paying.

I do think the extra $50 I promised to pay the manager will help. Maybe it won't, but I think it will.

i live 7 miles from the place that's doing the work. I'll be there all three days for at least a little while while it's being done.

I'll insist on meeting and talking to the prep guy and the shooter the day I drop it off. I'll probably offer them a $25 "tip" each if they take their time and do a nice job.

I shouldn't have to pay $50 to the service manager to keep an overall eye on the job, and another $50 to the guys that do the actual work but so what? I think it will be worrth it and Ill still get out of there for welll under $900.

I'm gonna go over it real closely when the job is done. If I see something I don't like, I'm going to insist it be made right and nobody will get an extra dime from me if theres even one small problem.

In other words, I'm going to be an "involved" customer/consumer or what some would call a pain in the ass.

But I bet I get a better job done than if I were a passive, no questions asked type of customer.

Remember, this is the car the old lady drives to work. I'm betting it comes out pretty damn nice.

Time will tell, so we'll just have to wait and see what happens. I'm willing to take the chance with Maaco.

And for the people who say, "Yeah, you wait, (pick your time factor) 6 months (or a year, or two years or whatever) from now you'll be unhappy," well, I have no way of knowing that AND NEITHER DO THEY!

They don't know the franchise I'm going to, nor do they know the the service manager, the prep guy or the shooter.

I got the specs on the paint, it's Sherwin Williams (I forget the designation) but I looked it up and a lot of paint and body guys say stuff like, "The Sherwin Williams xxx xxx is good paint. They have come a long way in auto paint and it's good quality."

Only one guy said it tends to "dry hard" and is a little prone to chipping. But that was the ONLY negative I saw about the paint. Most said it was as good as the big boys, Dupont and PPG but just cost less as SW continues to try to compete with the others.

Maybe this is a bit of a crap shoot. So what? What isn't a crap shoot when you got to someone you don't know to get something done.

I've done my homework and am as satisfied as I can be things will turn out OK.

[mickey]

Last thoughts on this...

Maacos are franchises. To say "Maaco sucks" is like saying, "All Irish people are drunks, all black people are lazy, all Italians beat their wives and all guys who paint cars are snot nosed, ill tempered primadonnas who think everybody else's work sucks and they say so at every opportunity."

Sorry. It just ain't so! Ya just can't generalize about stuff!

Bottom line? Maacos are as good (or bad) as the people who work there.

Also, there's a certain "snob factor" if you will, concerning Maaco. They're just so "common."

Lots of snobs say, "Oh nooooooo, I never watch television except for the news. I'm a reader." That's fine. I read too. But there ain't nothing wrong with watching a little tube.

McDonald's are common too. A lot of people just turn up their nose at them. Hey, I eat a Big Mac every once in a while. Not bad at all. Tastes good, fills ya up and the price is right.

Some people LOVE to repeat horror stories. And they love to embellish them. Some people jsut make a hobby out of knocking stuff they really know NOTHING about.

Knocking stuff, being negative just makes 'em feel good for some reason. Probably because they live shitty little miserable lives, are unhappy and like to make others unhappy.

"I know a guy who knew a guy whose brother-in-law took a car to Maaco for a paint job and neither the guy nor his car were ever seen again. His wife and kids are homeless now and she has become a crack addict and a prostitute. I swear, it's true and it's all Maaco's fault!"

I'll bet there are some guys here who have had Maaco paint their cars. But they'll probably never admit it on this forum for all the hostility the admission would probably engender.

I hate snobs. I really do.