whos blankenship?

 

Okay, enough bashing Maaco. I'll man up and post a reply to what I've read already. First and foremost, at Maaco, we are a "production" auto painting facility. We don't totally de-trim everything we paint. We don't strip the entire vehicle to metal (which isn't usually needed anyway) and yes, we do paint a lot of cars. However, let's look at the big picture. While there are shops and painters that can do a extremely nice job for 1800-2000, which are the prices I've seen mentioned here, you have to ask yourself is that something I NEED or is that something I WANT. If someone comes to me and tells me they want their car to look like it rolled off the showroom floor, I'd gladly send them to Tim's Custom in York County or Skips in Newport News. Of course I'll inform them they'll be spending a good chunk of change, but the car will look great. However, my shop can make a car look very nice for a much more reasonable price. If they're expectations are in line with what they're spending, I don't think anyone in the market delivers the value we do. No, you won't win a Concours d'Elgance at Pebble Beach. But the average guy will be happy with the results. Besides, having a car vandalized or involved in a hit and run with a $500 isn't as bad as having the same thing happen to a 2 grand paint job, right?

So let me also dispel some mis truths mentioned here to this point. I can't speak for every Maaco center or it's owner, just mine and myself. Our shop has been in business since 1984. We are the leading Maaco in Va and have been for years. We write more estimates than any other of the 500 Maaco centers in the chain. That alone speaks for our reputation. Many of my customers are referrals or repeat business. and my shop is usually in the top 25 centers in the chain.

As per 85_JSTANG

1) No we don't buy paint in 5 gallon pails. We use DuPont Chroma Base for our spot repairs Along with DuPonts Nason FulThane Urethane and Fulbase on our all over base/clears. I don't paint over rust.

2) I have many paint jobs that have lasted well past their warranty period and even take care of a lot of warranty stuff that's out of warranty as customer service.

3) There are lots of good body shops in the Hampton Roads area and I'm sure Nansemond is also good. But people need to ask themselves, do I NEED a $2Kpaint job or do I WANT a $2K paint job. Chances are the second is more accurate than the first. Do we cut corners, well, maybe, but it would be different if we were charging 2 grand. We're not, so most intelligent people understand the difference.

4) All of our paint services come with a warranty 1-5 years on the paint and lifetime on spot repairs. Not to mention, those are NATIONWIDE and honored across North America. I also saw someone post something about bodywork. we have 2 Chief frame machines and all of my guys are ASE certified and have I-CAR training. Not to mention, my shop offers a LIFETIME warranty on all structural and cosmetic body repairs.

s10ballsdeep

Actually we use Duponts 2K urethane primer. It's some of the best on the market. and yes we do use single stage paint (acrylic enamel, catalyzed enamel and polyurethane enamel) but we also offer 2 stage base clear. My Jeep Arangler has the base/clear and it's 8+ years old and I sell paint jobs off of it whenever it's at the shop.

EEK

We offer lifetime warranty on our bodywork and all of my techs are experienced.

Fitzgera1d

Sorry you had a problem, but glad they got you squared away. I'm assuming one of the southside shops?

hatch-n

If your friend had a truck fade that fast he should have gone back. I know my shop would have done something for him. Unfortunately I can't speak for all of them.

Neil,

Get that damn Camaro back whenever you get a chance! I'll still repaint the front. Slacker, LOL!

zc91crx

Dude, you definitely don't know me. I'll agree, I can be an ass. Damn big one at times. But usually, only to the people that need it. I'm as easy going of a guy as it gets. And I do a lot for the local car scene. I was autocross chairman for SCCA ODR for 12 years, autocross organizer for NASA Mid Atlantic for Langley Speedway and trackside announce for Wacky Wednesdays at Langley. If your "friends" used to work for me, maybe that's why the prep work was "half ass". And maybe that why they "used" to work for me. We do put a lot of cars through, but not at the expense of a nice finish. I'd rather do a few less cars and have them look good. But seriously, show me you know me. I'm thinking you may be a little confused.




So here's the deal, while all Maaco Centers are individually owned and I agree, some are run like crap, I know my shop puts out good looking work at a reasonable price. I don't skimp on materials and I expect the customers to be happy with their vehicles for a long time. I had the first certified collision repair center for Maaco in VA and we are a direct repair facility for several insurance companies. We also one of the largest repairers of Enterprise vehicles in the area and their expectations are extremely high!

Come by the shop and look at some of our work. If you like the finish we'd be glad to do your car. We've painted all of my cars including my 77 Z28 which we painted in '86 and it still looks sharp. Are we for everyone? No. There are people that want their cars too be show quality, and that's fine. Amazingly, we get a fair amount of people that think we're too high? Go figure. Seems we can't win, huh? And if you've had a bad experience at another Maaco I'm sorry. But don't label all of us as bad apples.

Face it, all of y'all aren't asshole ricers, right? But the stereotype sticks sometimes.

 

i paid 400 even for mine and it came out looking really nice

 

Guy that runs/owns Maaco in Hampton. I went to the same school/grade/classes his son went to. Guys not that bad of a person, probably just has to deal with a lot of upset customers for the work Maaco does. I mean for a $300-400 full car paintjob what can you expect?


^(post above) that also doesn't look too bad...how long have you had it since it was painted?

 

maccodale

ive seen alot of macco jobs fade and chip after a year, also seen people take it back and for some 'reason' they void the warranty and they are screwed.

yes, if u want a cheap quick paintjob, go ahead to macco, but you get what u pay for. If u want a nice slick finish then u need to spend more money. and i know PERSONALLY that macco (not sure which one) paints over rust, or did. my grandpas ford truck was painted there a few years ago. after about 16 months you could see the rust popping back out and see 'rust bubbles' in the paint.

now im not downing all macco shops, i guess if u kno the painter than hey its ok, jus as long as you know what yours getting, i just dont want people thinking they will get this flawless, show-car paint job for 1k.

and for the paint in 5gal drums, ive been told by several people who deliver to macco that they buy the cheap paint in drums, they may be wrong and that ok, im jus sharing my info, thats what forums are for.

anyone going to macco i really hope it turns out for you, personally i would prefer spending a lil more and gettng a better job.

goodluck

-JT

 

a "lil more." Or 3-5 times the amount? I think MaacoDale's response has ironed everything out pretty well. They're not painting cars headed for Barret-Jackson. There is clearly a market for thier service.

 

a little bit of perspective for all those that think we are too expensive or too cheap or whatever...cause like dale said ...everyone body has to bitch about something...

but an insurance company pays us around...3-500 just to paint a bumper on a car...

that includes r and i bumper...paint it and reinstall it...

shit when my bmw got keyed they wrote me a check for 2800 bucks to paint both sides and to fix some key scratches...thats just 2 fenders/4 doors and 2 quarters...

and you expect to get whole cars done for less than 1000...

granted it can be done and its done a whole hell of a lot...but its cheaper materials,fast and "sloppy"taping and prepping...nothing is removed...and its painted...usually with a scotch brite pad and water...thats it...takes about 45 minutes to do a complete car...another 30 to tape it up and its in the booth...wipe it down and paint it...thats how you make money...

now to take your time and disassemble a car and do it 100% correctly...yes your looking at around 2000...and thats on the cheap side...

some cars look good and some dont...but as dale aslo said...99% of customers realize they just paid around 500 bucks for a paintjob and as long as it "shines"they are happy as a pig in shit

 

Ill give you a palm treo to paint my car. >_______>

EDIT: and you can put a company sticker on it lol

 

what am i going to do with a palm tree???i know ..its a phone or some shit...

a tree would be a better trade...

ill tell you what ..get me a palm tree complete with coconuts and ill paint the camry

 

FUCK YEAH PALM TREES *****.