I'm looking for a low-cost (not to be confused with cheap) paint job.

Is Maaco really as bad as people say it is?

 

I don't know what stage the car is in right now, but if you have it primered or bare sheetmetal, or if there is any bondo, make sure you go through at sand uneven spots down yourself. My buddy had bondo all over his cuda and he threw on an eight hundred dollar Maaco paint job and long story short we ended up sanding it off a week later. They sprayed right over everything and it was really unprofessional looking. Honestly, even if you had no painting experience, I'd say you're almost better off doing it yourself.

 

The high production paint shops (maaco, miracale,one day,earl schibe...) Do not do good prep, masking, or use good paint. That is why its fast, careless and cheap. They may show you a lable on the paint that says "DuPont". It is a poor quality DuPont.
More like is right. Do it yourself. I dont think anyone could do worse than these shops. When it comes time to spray though some of the guys a the production shops know how to paint well because they do it so much. Just find one that feels confident in spraying a good quality paint.
And for the record. I have been in auto repair, body and mechanical, for over 20 years. I am not a specialist but my field is wide. I have out performed the guys that have done it since well before me.

 

Well, if Maaco is a last resort, I'd suggest talkin the managers into letting you prep the car for paint and mask it off. then all they would have to do is spray it.

a better bet would be to go around and find a guy in a bodyshop that can paint that would do it as a side-project. there's a lot of people that wouldn't mind making 500 bucks or so that uncle sam doesn't have to know about (and sometimes the wife doesn't have to know about). anyways, if you wanted to learn anything about paint, sometimes you can a find a guy that'll let you work on it with him which is really cool.

 

yes maaco is as bad as people say it is. It is just high production paint, and lk the other guy said whoever is going to put macca paint on is probabaly cheap, as well as their quality.