Does anyone have advice for a novice planning her first paint job? I've never had a car painted and have gotten a good estimate from Maaco ($800 or so) for painting my 2007 Monte Victory Red (it's white now). The factory paint is in excellent condition and I'm told it won't need a lot of prep work. Are there questions I need to ask Maaco before I schedule it? Would it be much more expensive to get a clearcoat with metal flakes? Should I have them paint under the hood and trunk, in addition to inside both doors? Any advice is appreciated!

 

My advice, PLEASE keep your Monte out of Maaco. An $800 paint job is not going to be of good quality. You will be stepping down dramatically in paint quality.

 

I painted my nephew's honda Black clearcoat with metal flakes and the paint and sand paper ect... cost more than $800 He paid me $1500 I had car for 1 1/2 months ..........

 

yea stay away from maaco wouldnt be suprised if the paint fell off within a year

get a good paint job, one that you could be proud of but you get what you pay for so you will spend alot more than 800 on one

 

Ummm... Came across this.

http://meguiarsonline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=40341

WOW! I may do this myself.

 

I think Maaco gets a bad rep. You get what you pay for. I put new quarters and 1 new front fender on my wifes 71 Impala and paid them $850 for thier 3rd tier paint job. They did all the jams including the trunk since it was a color change. If you can get the car prepped and want to spend a little more, they can do it. But dont get the cheapest 299 job. I had them clear coat hers and told them put extra clear on it in case it wasnt as shiny as I wanted and therefore I would be able to wetsand and buff. It didnt need it at least not yet. And this is almost a year and a half later. On a car as new as yours, I wouldnt advise changing the color. When mentioning metal flake, do you mean metal flake or metallic. Big difference. The color change will most likely be noticed and will cheapen your resale value. But if you plan on keeping it for a long time, go for it. Metal flake is something that has to be added to an existing paint. Metallic is already in it. Hope this helps.
edit: you will also pay extra for them to sand and prep, was that included, if so you must be getting a 299 paint job. You dont want that. If you want a color change, you should sell yours and buy one that color.

 

I dont think Maaco is a bad company, they dont advertise anything they dont deliver. They advertise cheap paint jobs and thats what you get, cheap paint jobs. I advise people with nice cars to stay away from Maaco. Thats not a route you want to take your nice car. Maaco is great for an old beater that is in need of a paint job that really isnt worth a body shop quality job. Maaco isnt the place to take a car in hopes of a show quality, or even factory quality paint job for that matter. If your car's paint is in good condition, leave well enough alone. Dont down grade in quality just to change the color of your car.

 

idk about that

 

I saw it on HotRod TV but they didn't get too in depth about it. I checked all of the links and I am going to try this on my wife's mini-van.

 

good tester let me know how it works