robertrios

iTrader: (11)

Does anyone know a shop that will paint the bottom pannels to match the top? Carsmedics in tampa quoted me 1000.00 to do it. Anything somewhat near by that I can go for this?

ivan1

that sounds about right for a proper paintjob man. unless you want to take the chance and go to maaco and then it will be like $250, a buddy of mine got his 80's 325 bmw painted their thats how much he paid. but it's maaco, not the most talented of places, i'd say get it done by a quality place. i got quoted to paint my entire car $3500 so a $1000 seems reasonable to me.

bob2200

Year ago, I got a car painted several times in 19 years at MAACO. They are independently-owned franchises, and there is a great deal of difference in quality between stores; or at least there was at that time.

99rx

iTrader: (6)

Do not do MAACO! They are one of the worst places to get your paint work done. They take your care outside and get it ready to paint by using comet cleaning abrasive and sandpaper. Sounds fun huh? Wouldn't want my car near that.

2000LEX

iTrader: (2)

I brought a pos car to macco one time, there hose hit the wet paint and left a mark. When i picked it up they said bring it back later if you want. That is the worst customer service/quality i have ever seen.

robertrios

iTrader: (11)

Yea they painted my brother's Eclipse back in high school....its was okay...for high school standards. I guess ill dish out the 1k unless I find a really good shop for a little less but for the most part I think im going to be pretty much in the price range no matter what.

ivan1

yeah a grand does sound reasonable for a quality job, unless you prep it and sand/wet sand it yourself? but idk how inclined you are to doing your own body work. and yeah with maaco it's a toss up depending where it is, but for hte most part you get what you paid really cheap for...

robertrios

iTrader: (11)

Yea i think that if i did my own prep work id make it even worse! Im just going to save up and do that plus a few other things like dings and what not on the car. To bring the car to basically new on the outside will just be 1700 after taxes so i think its going to be my best option.

tomstep2

My parents own a Maaco and you pay for what you get. If you come in wanting a paint job for under $500, you aren't going to get the best quality. They have several packages and their top end package is almost OEM. As BOB2200 pointed out, each is an individually owned franchise and quality can vary from each. At my parents shop, they definitely do NOT use comet and an abrasive cloth, they take the time on their top end package to sand down to metal and then use the multi coat poly paint.

Of course, the top end paint job is going to run a minimum of $1000, but from what I have seen from their shop, it is some of the best paintwork that I have seen. I am a little biased though.