ok the new max that I got is in need of new paint. its not peeling off or anything like that but there are door dings all over it and it looks like it has been in a few very small accidents. I took it to maaco and they told me that to base coat clear coat my car it was going to run me from $1,200 to $1,300. thats with me doing all of the body work.

I was going to sand down all of the places that had little door dings or had been dented in a little all the way down to the metal and put bondo in it and then sand it smooth.

I was thinking that I could try and see if they would let me be there when they are doing the prep and painting. because I have heard some horror stories from them. that paint job does come with a 5 year warranty.

what do you all think. should I take my baby to maaco or not? is filling in all the little door dings with bondo going to hold? ooh and I forgot I have some rust comming in on the rear door jams and a very small amount right where the windshield meets the roof of the car. I was going to do the same thing sand away all of the rust and then put bondo over it. what do you all think? should I do all of this?

 

absolutely not

 

I have this same debate but I'm having a different shop do my dents and send it to Maaco for a 50 foot paint job.

 

pm 03on18s or look at his car.... he got a maaco paint job, it sucks

 

holy unmatching paint job batman!

 

it's all in the prep work.
a good prep job will make all the difference in the world, moreso than who shoots it.
you may have to color sand it yourself after the paint job.
I still need to do mine

 

That seems expensive for Maaco. Ive never met a Maaco job ive liked. Im still feeling the effects of trying to take the cheap way out. i have paint on my windshield for crying out loud.

 

Did he just have the quarter painted or the whole car? I'm doing the whole car in black.

 

do you know what you're doing? are you going to spray an epoxy primer prior to them painting? i highly doubt they will even shoot a decent primer down. your bondo repairs will eventually rust due to improper prep work from them. also considering doing PDR work instead of bondo?

 

oh yeah...that's pretty damn bad. it's not even close. i can get a better match in my own garage.

 

i could've done a better job with Crayola

 

it looks like he had kit and qtrs painted to match.......but matching is def. not what they did.

 

those are fenders not quarters
quarters refer to the rear as to why they call it like that

 

my only advice is unless you know what you are doing do not do the filler work yourself unless you are patient and are willing to learn as you do it (and re do it a few times to get it right) and don’t mind your car being a guinea pig. There is more to filler work than you realize (to do it right that is).

 

wow paint on the winshield, unmatching paint. I want so badly to get it painted but Im not going to have it look like shi# now and then still have it look like shi# $1,300 later. I dont like the fact that they say they can have your car out in 1 or 2 days. I want them to take their time not to rush. if I ever have any work on my car done I always tell the people that Im in no hurry and for them to take their time.

I guess I will have to get on the local car club foums and ask them where a paint shop is b/c Im new to cincinnati and know nothing about it.

Im not too worried about doing the body work myself. I have never done it but with a good how to or just someone to ask I should be good. I had never touched a car before and when I got my first car within the first week I had to replace the whole rack and pinion, lower control arm, hub, and shocks and struts. I dont get into a big hurry when Im working on my car. I take the time to make sure that its done right the first time.

 

about $200-$300 into supplies and about 2-3 weeks loss and the car is not right...you'll either leave it and have them paint and it'll look like crap or you'll just get fed up and pay someone else to do it. trust me...body work sucks. sucks a lot of time out of you and if you mess up it's a lot of $ for supplies. it's not something easy as learn as you go since you're doing the entire car. if it's just one dinger on a POS car that you don't care that's one thing. you have multiple damaged areas and that takes a good deal of time to do it right.

but it's your call....if you think you can do it then give it a shot. if you don't have tools for it then you'll be in for a big sticker shock....oh and the auto body stuff you see on the shelf at pep girls...that's generally the cheaper materials...you'll need to seek out an auto body supply place for the better stuff.

 

hehe...well good luck. I will just echo what Dan said. Body work is nothing like replacing control arms, rack and pinions etc etc. I would rather do an engine swap and everything else than do body work. It is time consuming, expensive and bad on your sinuses unless you wear a good respirator.

I dont want to discourage you though. If body work is something you are interested in then by all means buy the tools and supplies to do it and practice on some panels before you hit your car.

check my painting tips adn you will see links to different sites that are helpful for body work and paint.

 

how much do you think I would be looking at to have a good shop repaint my car if I do the body work? I just want the stock color and they dont even have to paint the door jams, just repaint the outside. like I said I dont know any shops around here to go to get a price on repainting it and even if I called one up I prob wouldnt be able to find it because I dont know my way around.

 

my buddys dad has a shop in dayton, ill ask him this weekend when i go to do my suspension and get back to you.....would be willing to go to dayton area?? where are you at in cincy?

 

that would be awesome! Im at exit 19 on 71. so Im only 45 minutes if that from dayton. I could totally drive that for a good paint job. see what he says about price. like I said nothing fancy just primer base and clear with the stock color. I just want it to look nice.

 

ok i know where youre at, Ill find out for you and get back to you my buddy is actually in xenia. u ever get on ohionissans? might ask there too.....i know there is something going on may 8th in xenia some drift thing or something...

 

thats awesome. I have never heard of the site but I will have to check it out. thats what I really need someone who knows this car and knows how nice its going to be when done. not some random shop that doesnt care about the cars that they are doing and just wants to get them out the door as fast as they can.

 

car was in one accident, the other dings have been there since i bought it

 

well like I told you in the email, I was planning on putting all new doors on it but I cant find a junkyard anywhere that has any 3rd gens and if they do they want like $300 a door!

where I lived in kentucky there was an awesome u-pull-it junkyard about an hour away form me in evansville indiana. they had soo many cars you could be there all day and still not see all the cars. and they were VERY cheap. I think it was $25 for a stripped down door. if I wanted a door with no window, trim, window motor, ext all I had to do was take it off. here if you want a door your buying everything that was on the door also

I took the drivers side door and fender off of my other one before it was taken away so all I have to do is get them painted.

 

with body work you get what you pay for. you can do the body work...ONLY if you can do it correctly. if you didn't scuff the panel enough or mixed the bondo wrong...the best paint can go on the car and the bondo will crack off in a year. also don't think of rebuilding panels with bondo...bondo layer should be no thicker than 1/8 of inch...IMO.

at this point you have 2 choices...either pay more for a good paint job with good results or pay less and get a so so result. if you want good results you just can't cheap it.

 

dont go maako i had them paint the front fairing on my bike after i layed it down, they didnt hit kawa lime green for ****, now i have the technicolor dream bike, back is bright green, and then the part they did is baby**** cream , look i ate an entire bag of just green skittles, green. ANd it only got worse with age.
F&(K maako.

 

A good rule of thumb is don't EVER trust a shop with a franchise name. They don't give a f**k about your car or customer service.

 

Maaco is a Mistake-o. I've been there, so I know-o.

Uh oh.

 

I'd reccomend looking into 'paintless dent removal'. When I got my max I got about 10-15 small to medium dents removed, and I couldn't have been happier. I got hooked up too, it only costed me $125 or something (family connection). But I watched the guy do the work, so now I know how to do it

Yeah, I've seen ghetto paint jobs, a fellow org member had air bubbles ALL over his hood, I was like "dude, they aren't going to buff that out"

 

DO NOT USE MAACO. I deal with them at work and have heard some pretty bad stories, one lady i guess they didn't put her windows al the way up, and got paint all over her leather interior and on her monitors in her car, very unprofessional and pathetic.

 

Speaking of getting cars painted how much do you all think it would cost to get a decent job done for a whole car? 1500? 2000? 2500? more?

 

I would say a good paint job of the same color with all dents removed and painting all the windows sill and such to cost upwards of $2000. At least that the prices in NY for a top of the line paint job. However, Im sure if you look aroun and go to different shps you may get it cheaper.

 

I would say 3000 is a good number to shoot for.

 

yeah i was thinking the 2000 - 3000 range would be it.