So here before to long I want to get my paint touched up and a few rust bubbles taken care of as well. My front bumber has a lot of knicks in the paint that you can't see from a few steps back but I know they are there and it annoy's the hell out of me. And I really want to start taking my Monte to car shows at some point so I really just want everything touched up and have the rust bubbles taken care of before that gets out of hand. Would you guys every recommend Macco just for like touch up stuff or should I just save my money up and have it competely re-sprayed? I'm a college student so I am trying to figure out ways to make my car really nice with what I got.

 

Depends on the color of your car, if its black, touch up spots will probably never exactly match.

 

Mine is victory red

 

Don't waste the money at Maaco - I have a relative that works for Maaco down in Charlotte. They don't do prep work worth a ****, which is the key to a good looking and lasting paint job. Rust repair, they're just going to sand it, maybe put some Bondo on it and repaint it. The rust will be back in less than a year.

 

I would never recommend Maaco, just my two cents. They don't prep worth s***. I'd suggest doing your own touch ups (if possible) and saving your money for a nice re paint at some point. Look around and talk to multiple body shops. You should be able to talk with the owner or manager and tell them exactly what you're looking at having done, and good shops will usually be willing to work with you on a price.

I know you recently asked, but I got my entire front end re painted, including a new upper grille and lower ground effect insert, for $1,000... and that was at a Chevrolet dealership. After showing the manager my car and shooting the breeze with him for a while, he offered lower than what I was assuming it was going to cost me. Sometimes you just stumble on a great deal.

 

Maaco painted my wifes 71 but we did prep work. They did a god job.

 

I wouldnt take anything to macco, be best to save up and have it all repainted, plus red is hard to match at times

 

The Chevrolet dealership did one hell of a job matching the black on mine. Can't even tell.

 

My 87 IROC was done by a Maaco. It held up pretty well for the remaining 3 years that I owned it and from what I saw last time I saw it, it's still holding up good. When I got it painted (2008), the cheapest quote I got anywhere else was over 5 grand. Considering I paid 1700 for the car, it was not worth paying over triple what I paid for the car just to paint it. Even when I paint my 73, I will not be paying 5 grand for paint. I don't care how good they claim to be, if I spend that kind of money on a paint job, I won't want to drive it because it WILL get chipped at some point. There's too much crap on the roads and I refuse to have a garage queen. You may get a cheaper price due to it being a newer car, but most near here mark up their prices if it's a classic car. That's the dilemma I'm in right now with the 73.

I know some people who have spent even more on a paint job. I just can't fathom paying even 5 grand on paint. Even if I only spent 2 grand, I could still buy a T56 and everything to hook it up and still spend less money.

Keep in mind, each Maaco is owned by someone different. I'd go look at their work and see for yourself. I know some don't do worth a crap, but the one my 87 was painted at did a good deal of prep work and were very thorough (I stopped in to check up on it several times while they were working on it and they even let me come back and see the process).

 

Sounds like there are mixed opinions on this haha. I'll keep looking around and see what I can find, I was just wondering if Maaco was halfway decent. Sounds like if I were to do the body work and have Maaco just paint it then that may be a way to go.