i just don't think i could go to maaco for paint. even if you pay for the expensive paint job, its going to be the exact same people that do the $199 job, and they're going to **** it up.

 

actually the guy that sprayed mine was a 25+ body guy that just sprayed part time for them and did an awsome job.....its just the prep and materials I'd be most concerned about....I had them fix one 1inch crack....TWICE.....guess what?....cracks comming back
they used sherwin williams paint..... and they had some impressive photo of nice high end work.... they told me they spit out the cheap jobs to pay the bills because thats all most people want. (to pay for)

 

I'd rather spend $200 and spray bomb my truck then take it Macco...

 

it is all about the paint product that Maaco uses. They have their own line and as mentioned earlier, dosent last very long. You get what you pay for.

I recommend Dupont, PPG, Sherwin-Williams paint products.

 

i have a Nissan D21 thathas a maaco paint job. theres alot of overspray on door handles, and tailgate handle as well as some stuck to windshield. My friend owned the truck before me and he was the one who got it painted it was on a mustang and he liked it so he put it on the truck. 1400 is what he was charged (saw recipt) and under the bed liner its still black (original color.)

Its blue with the silver stripes. (stripes dont line up from roof to tailgate)

been on truck for 4 years, and the smallest thing will leave the biggest scratch so it kinda looks like crap



so yea you get what you pay for, but at maaco you just get ****

 

well like I mentioned earlier The manager I knew told me (and showed me) a brand that was made by sherwin williams and told be that was the only brand they normally used.... just different types of it.... He did also say they use the single stage stuff for all their cheaper non metallic paint jobs.... This was the local macco of course and it was independantly owned and also had a very high tech paintbooth with baking lamps and all....

 

A decent single color paintjob costs about $2400 on a single cab pickup with minimal body work so yeah thats a cheap paintjob....especially for stripes and what not painted on. (my dad got three estimates before paying $2600 to have his former rust free 86 ford repainted regular plain non metallic red)
I spent over $300 alone in primer and paint to paint my little jeep with low cost omni series paint so...

I should add that many state enviromental laws now effect the prices of this stuff. Kinda like getting things rechromed. and the better paint systems (paints) are nastier to work with.

 

How much paint will I need to paint a '98 Ram Quad cab short bed. Will I need to go to bare metal when sanding. I'm doing original color, Bright White. Thanks Ruger mini

 

Painting a large truck or vehicle would take a professional about six to seven quarts of paint. If you are inexperienced, two or three coats of paint on a car would require about two gallons. If you are painting your vehicle the same color, 2 gallons should work. If you are painting the vehicle a different color, then it is best to go with a 2 to 2 1/2gallons. You will need more paint if you are painting door jambs, under the hood and trunk. Also, if you are putting the paint in a spray mechanism, such as an airbrush, it will create twice the amount of paint.

 

I've got a 96 Ram 1500 4x4 in the Driftwood color (it's silver-ish). The factory clear coat was peeling badly, so I went to Maaco and it cost about $1200 or so for a paint job (this was 2004). It looked good the first few years, but started looking bad fading. I brought it back and they repainted it again (2008) supposedly with an upgraded paint package (still cost about $1000). Again, it looked good at first, but started fading again after about five years. So now it's at a "real" paint shop where they actually do things like remove the tail lights, mirrors, antenna, side milding, etc. (instead of taping them off). It's going to cost me $2400 to paint the truck (base coat and then clear coat) and paint the fiberglass top (topper still had the original paint, and they're not painting the inside of the bed). There's no rust, and minimal door-dings to be filled in. I'm having the color changed on the truck to a 2015 Chevy Corvette Shark Gray Metallic. I've got new side molding to replace the old molding purchased from LCM (LMC?). And I pulled the rear bumper before dropping it off.

If you really care for your truck and can afford it, don't get it painted at Maaco unless you're planning on getting rid of it soon. Go to a real paint shop.

Now my wife's 98 Dodge teal-ish colored minivan had the clear coat peeling bad also. Maaco charged me about $750 to completely repaint it. This was late 2011/early 2012 (I forget), and it's still looking good (it's not a metallic paint if that makes any difference). It's a minivan; I don't want to spend a lot of money painting a minivan so Maaco for me was a good choice. Since they're independently owned and operated, some are better than others.