My 99 maxima has 140k miles on it and is in need of paint but i dont want to drop a grand into it if its not going to last me for a while yet. i bought it at 100k miles and do regular maintainence. replaced the axles about a year ago, that was the biggest thing. the majority of the last 40k miles have been highway.

im losing my attraction to this car, largely because of the paint. it seems to have lost its responsiveness but that may be a subconscience change in the way i drive. i plan to use my tax return to replace the suspension because it is very dead so that should help me love the max like i used to


thanks for your help and advice.

You need to contact Dr. Phil my friend... i dont understand that sentence right there

But seriously, a good paint job is more than a grand i think and dropping that on a daily driver does not make sense. Fix the suspension, and keep doing your maintenance while saving for a never car, dude its a 99 with 140K Mi, its getting up there (or may have already gotten there)

Save the money for a newer car!

a paint job for $1000 should be avoided. especially if the paint job matter so much to you. (not unless you have a family relative who owns a body shop). Is a new paint job worth it? yes (to me). could you sell yours, throw in $1000 and buy a diff max with the paint job you like?.......probably.

if you no longer liking the car, why throw money into it? get rid of it and buy the car you want.

I got my supra painted at maaco for $300 and it doesn't look bad at all. Granted i did all of the prep work (sanding & wet sanding the car) and all they have to do is spray & pray.

sorry to lauph, but wait a couple of months and see what you think about Maaco

-matt

my 'rents always drove their cars into the ground, so it's hard for me to think about getting rid of a car while its still "perfectly good"

good paint jobs should cost over $1000. If you get the cheap ones, they fade fast & don't shine as good.

It's your car, your decision, but I'd go sell it and buy a car with good paint IMO.

if the question is whether the car will last for a while longer, the answer is yes. get your paint job if you dont plan on getting another car and if you think new paint will renew your love for it.

Thats BS. It depends who does the prep and what type of paint they use. I've seen Maaco jobs that last for 7-10 years but the prep had to be done separate. A friend of mine works at maaco and is getting me a deal. Premium paint plus 2 clears, but we're doing the prep ahead of time because he flat out told me they dont prep. He did his car with fully custom paint and 3 years later it still has the always wet look. So please back your statements up before making them.

They do a one stage paint with no ****ing clear coat. Mine was painted by them. They also mix their own paint and it doesn't match factory paint. On mine it doesn't.

The **** wont last 2 years.

Either way, its a 9 year old car. I dont think you need a 2-3k dollar paint job. If its that important then get a new car.

Well I was thinking he wouldn't prep it his self, maybe he will. People don't usually think of hey let me prep my car before i give it to people to paint. I would usually think they would do it for me. I was just saying that because my friend got a paintjob from Maaco & it looked really good at first, but after awhile it started to fade.

Well i will agree maaco is not the best place to get paint but one of the cheapest. If you plan on keeping it dont cheep out or you will be asking the same question in a few months. I personally would paint it but thats me. And it would only cost me about 300 in supplies since i paint.