Better Go To Macco?

[Cannon00000]

My blue 325is has got more scrathes then I can deal with. Would it be a bad idea to go to one of those cheap franchise paint shops like Maaco or Earl Sheib and have them repaint my existing color ontop of the current paint? Ive always thought that these places were a ripoff because they dont strip your car down before they repaint. But if you are doing the exact same color is that ok?

[aheath]

I have an enormous key-inflicted scratch on my car. I REFUSE to take my car to maccos. I posted pictures of it a month or two ago, still hurts. Waiting a month or two and then taking my car in for a high quality paint job.

I remember I took one of my cars to macco's a few years ago. The problem with going to macco's is that it's not a TOP-quality paint job. It'll fade and show signs of a cheap job in a few years. If you're concern about preserving the value of your, stay away from macco's.

[thekid]

If you go to macco, sell the car immediately. Then move. Because if not the person will come back and try to kill you for doing that to them.

Basically as said above, Macco paint is incrediablly cheap because they do not do a great job, they do not use good paint and are about the worst place you could take a car to get it painted. IF you are looking for a paint job that will not be crap, be ready to spend at least $1,000. A friend of a friend said he could hook me up with a really good paint job for that (I've seen his work and it would be worth every cent). However, I am not in a position to be able to throw around that kinda money on a purely cosmetic flaw (read, less than 50% of the clear coat is still on my car). It's horrible, but Macco would be worse.

[Cannon00000]

I'm not understanding how a new coat of the exact same color could be bad. Even if it fades my orginal will still be underneath it.

[aheath]

A friend of mine paints cars for a living. He's certified to paint bmw's. I never knew much about paint.

Here's what he had me do. Go look at the texture and pattern of the paint on any other non-luxury car. Then look at your BMW.

If you get a cheap paint job the texture and pattern will not be the same as the one as you have. A good paint job uses HIGH quality paint and expertise of blending the pattern in.

Bottom line is MACCO's is more concerned about quantity not quality. I learned the hard way about what a cheap paint job does. My last car half of it was cherry red and the other half was faded (did even look like there was any clearcoat) You could stand on either side of the car and think it was red/pink or cherry-red.

[93 325i]

I had my 92 integra re-painted stock color for $650. Actually came out decent for the price. Dont have high expectations tho. And remove evrything you can yourself (they taped off my license plate for god sake and didnt paint under it). However I did sell my car 3 months later...

***This is what you should do.. Pay a good shop to buff and compound the hell out of your current paint. I guarentee it will bounce right back and look sweeeeet. This you could get done for $100-$200. You wont be sorry

[B_w.]

macco is cheap for a reason, they do a shitty job. the paint will fade quickly and will easily chip off.

[thekid]

Originally posted by Cannon00000@Jun 17 2005, 11:33 AM
I'm not understanding how a new coat of the exact same color could be bad. Even if it fades my orginal will still be underneath it.

[snapback]354450[/snapback]

If it fades, the new paint will not be visible. You will basically be putting the worst paint ontop of good paint. You will not see your current paint ever again if you paint over it.

It is not something I would recommend any one to do ever. No one else is recommending it.

Do whatever you want.

[B_w.]

not doing something right the first time always ends up costing more because you end up doing it twice. in the end you will pay more with maaco.

[RallyE36]

Maaco in Canada offers complete paint jobs (whole car) for $279.00 CDN.
Whay kind of job do you really think it's going to be? They don't prep the surface properly and the paint they apply ends up peeling off in the car wash. They don't have that good of a reputation here in Canada.

As it has been mentioned before Maaco paint jobs look good for pictures, but that about it.

Go to a reputible shop and pay for a job well done.
As an example, to prep and paint a fender it should cost you around $500.00 CDN, while to paint the whole car should be $2500 - $3000 (CDN).

Good luck.