Cheap Paint Job - MAACO thoughts?

[vukos]

I've owned my 99 T4R for about a year now. It came with a bunch of scratches and dings to the original black paint (two-tone black and gray cladding). I have also added a bunch more scratches and dings on a few off road trips.

I really like the look of a two-tone desert dune and black cladding 4Runner. I'd like to get this done but I understand with paint jobs you get what you pay for. What I don't want to do is spent $2k-$5k to paint a $6k vehicle, especially as I am likely to get it scratched up again on the trails.

Would a reasonably priced MAACO (or similar) paint job be worth it? I figure if its around $500-$600, I can probably afford a refresher paint job every few years if the paint doesn't last.

I know plasti dip is something people recommend too, but from my understanding that wears out pretty quickly.

Thoughts?

 

[socalkid]

never had a car done by MAACO or a comparable shop, but what i can tell you from experiences of people i know, is that like any paint shop, the quality of the work will lay with the individual shop. overall, like you said, a MAACO paint job won't compare to something done by a quality shop, however, you can get a good MAACO paint job and a bad MAACO paint job. relating to your Runner and what i think you'll use it for, ive seen prefectly fine MAACO paint jobs for offroad trucks. my cousin who crawls a 70's Bronco (forget the exact year) had his truck done by MAACO and for an off-road truck its perfect. if you do end up choosing MAACO or something similar, my advice, if you can, find a good MAACO shop with reviews and example of their work, even if it means going out of your way.

 

[Rolling_Thunder]

Guy I know had his $250K 1969 Dodge Daytona painted at One Day Paint... just because it is a MAACO or one day paint place doesnt mean they do shoddy work... the MAACO by me will be painting my 73 Challenger... they use Sherwin Williams paint (good quality paint) and have single or two stage paint option.... I am doing the bodywork and block sanding prior but I also had them paint my 4runner hood to test their ability - color change from anthracite to white - smooth with no issues or quality issues i see ---

My recommendation would be to talk to the owner and see the work they do... my MAACO had a 1967 chevelle, 90's Fox body stang (tubbed race car) and a 1960 Cadillac convertible.... also a lot of daily drivers for insurance work... look at their finished products and gauge their quality -

 

[Counterpoint08]

Rolling Thunder is right. Keep in mind that 90% of a paint job is the body and surface prep. You can spend weeks/months doing body work or prepping the surface for painting and then it only takes one day to paint. The paint results are 90% prep and a MAACO or similar place will do fine for your budget 4Runner, especially if you are going to still take it off-road!

 

[thezentree]

Mine got a MAACO paint job right before I got it and it's a pretty awful paint job. Orange peel and runs everywhere and it's obvious they spent about 2 minutes masking it. It's not even close to the millennium silver it was supposed to be.

You might have better luck if you spend a couple days prepping it yourself before you bring it to them for the paint. Like [MENTION=134368]Counterpoint08[/MENTION] said, prep is everything.

 

[my92t4r]

w00t

 

[Collkid]

I had a 1989 Jeep Comanche that needed paint.
Spent $1,400 on the car.


I did all the sanding myself and just had them spray it. Cost me $350.
4 years later, its holding up pretty good. Absolutely worth what I paid for.

I'll be doing this again on a Cheap Old Honda coming my way.

Get black, its really easy to touch up.

 

[alumarine]

Unless you do all the prep I don't think you're going to get any kind of paint job for $500-$600 that you would want to look at.

 

[JayRolla]

My drag/street talon was painted almost 10 years ago at a place like maaco. It's held up and still looks better than it did before. Clear coat is dull and some very small peeling.

 

[RS Dude]

While it is true that 90% of paint job is prep, if you use low quality paint you will have a low quality paint job that will not last as long as a high quality paint job. Nevertheless, a MAACO paint job is probably worth it for many people because it is so cheap.:baby:

 

[snow junky]

I have had a few cars painted at Maaco. It's all about the prep. Thay have many different levels of quality pain jobs they will do. For under $500 they just wash the car then paint whatever's there.

The cars I had painted all had fish eyes runs cracks orange peal. When inspecting I pointed them all out and they said ether that was what they painted over or that's what you get with that price paint job.

That being said I'm going to have them paint my runner soon when I fix a few major dents.

This is the old you get what you pay for. If you want a show quality paint job it will cost $10,000 easy. For under $1000 it's going to have flaws


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[BigFishAllDay]

For under $500 they just wash the car then paint whatever's there.

True story, right there. I had my first vehicle painted at Maaco close to 20 years ago, now. The price was right at $500. I did some basic sanding and prep and dropped it off. When I got it back, there was small debris (staples, wood chips, a coin, etc) in the bed that got painted right over, and I could tell that they did very little prep/sanding beyond what I had done.

Back then the paint at that price point was a single stage and wasn't very durable, but it looked awesome when I picked it up. Sure, there were a few runs and imperfections, but it was a $500 paint job on a truck that cost me $1750. It worked.

Recently I had Maaco paint a camper shell for my Tacoma. It required a color match, and I asked for a base/clear to match the truck. They charged me just shy of $400 including tax. I was impressed with how well it came out. The color match was perfect, everything as well masked, and the base/clear looks great. Time will tell how it holds up, but right now it is hard to tell it apart from the OEM paint on the truck.

I think the advice from some of the earlier posters is spot on. The shop will always have a few freshly painted cars on the property. Have a look at them, and judge the quality of what you see, because you'll get roughly the same quality and number of flaws.

 

[Jayjayb96]

I agree with what everyone says. it always depends on the shop. Ive had my 97 t4r and my old eclipse turbo painted at a reputable maaco twice (wanted a different color) and its been over 8 years on the 97 still looks good. My cousin took his e30 to different maaco and his paintjob only held up a year before the clearcoat faded. Do your research and find a decent shop but like the saying goes you get what you paid for..

 

[gamefreakgc]

I looked into their site, and just so you know that if you do your own prep work they cannot warranty their work for defects. As long as you know that you're good, but yeah if you have major dents and deep scratches and paint nice, new, shiny paint over the top it will look kinda goofy so prep work is a must for a good job.

The $250ish promo job they are advertising is warrantied for 1 year (ouch). There's an $800ish job they warranty for 4 years if my memory is any good.

I should add, if your clear coat is in good shape with no peeling anywhere, using a rubbing compound with a decent buffer and then following up with polish and wax will do WONDERS for the paint. Did that to mine and it seriously looks like a new paint job, the hood is like a mirror. But this is with no clear coat damage, no amount of buffing will ever fix peeling clear.

Only cost me about $75 in materials and a weekend of taping & buffing.

 

[BrianSD_42]

This thread really needs pics

 

[whyzee125]

Sure, it doesn't necessarily mean it's going to be a bad job but I'd avoid maaco. I've seen way too many cars that just look awful come from there.

 

[thezentree]

This thread really needs pics

Good call.

I realize the lighting here isn't great but it's on jackstands right now. This is (IIRC) a $600 MAACO paint job. It's a 10ft paint job for sure. Like I said before, I got it like this so it wasn't bad enough to turn me off from buying it but I think I probably could have done a better job in my back yard.

What I can't show here is the overspray all over the tires that were on it, since it got new tires a couple weeks ago. I don't think they covered the wheels or tires at all.


Painted-over crack in the hood:

Fisheyes in the fender flares (they're all like this):

Orange peel on the doors (they're all like this):

Poor masking:

Sanded window glass:

It's not awful and based on the crack in the OEM paint on the hood it probably looks better from a distance than it did before. But you're certainly not going to get show-car quality paint, or anything close to it, for $600. I am curious to see how long it lasts before it starts to peel, but until then I'm okay with it.

 

[A.Wilson013]

A buddy of mine used to work at a collision repair place and swears by Maaco. He does his own prep work, but says the guys at the local Maaco "lay paint all day" and have gotten pretty damn good at it. Especially for the price.

 

[vukos]

Thanks for the opinions people. In my ongoing research I have also seen a few people monstaliner their T4Rs. This ends up creating a much sturdier paint job that should withstand most forms of trail brush damage. However applying this stuff myself looks like a massive effort. Is anyone aware of a business that would apply monstaliner on a truck beyond just truck beds? Any way I can talk MAACO into doing it?

It seems I may be on my own with that one. Either spend some considerable time and effort and have a long-lasting monstaliner'd 4Runner, or spend no effort and a bunch of money on a questionable MAACO job (and potentially repeat this in three-four years after I accumulate more scratches)...

 

[BigFishAllDay]

This thread really needs pics

I don't have many close up shots of the paint on the camper shell, but here are the ones I do have.

The color match was spot on, even in sunlight. The shell had been sitting in the sun for over a year and the gel coat on the fiberglass had hundreds of small cracks, mainly on top. I asked Maaco to just paint over them, so they did. Most of the ones on the sides are barely visible, but again, I wasn't going for perfection on the shell, just for it to look shiny from 10 feet away and be the same color as the truck.