To Maaco or not to Maaco? Sn Jose/Sunnyvle shps specifically

[aguabonita]

My grey '87 westy is pretty beat up. Lots of oxidation and some very minor bubbling of paint in one or two spots. I would love to get an inexpensive paint job to keep me happy for the next 5 years and to ward off a bit of the rusting.

All I am looking for is something that looks good from 5-10 feet away. I drive through some brush/offroad now and again so I don't need a perfect paint job anyway as I am sure that she will get scratched up again on our next outing.

It seems like Maaco would do the trick. What do you all think? Does anyone have any experience with the Maaco shops in San Jose or Sunnyvale?

Anyone in the Monterey Bay know of any inexpensive garages that might take care of my needs?

No flamers please.

Aguabonita
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'87 Westfalia, GW 2.2, and some other goodies
'90 Volvo 245

[vwlovr]

i have had a bad experience with the sunnyvale maaco.

my van came with a maaco paint job (from anther place), white over the original blue. i wanted to paint the inside bits white to match. i too didn't care if it was perfect i just didn't want to look at the blue and i still plan on giving it a primo paint job in a few years.

so i took the van to them completely stripped on the interior. only the drivers seat and dash remained. i told them i what i wanted, emphasizing that i wanted the front pillars and door jams painted.

when i went to pick it up the front pillars were not painted, and one door jam had the step painted and one did not.

the manager was a complete fuckwad. he held firm that the pillars were not included in what i was charged for, and said the same thing for the step but retracted when i pointed out the other side had been painted. i argued with him for 40 mins about the pillars since i knew that i had requested them specifically and i was really pissed about them. he finally agreed an doing them for a cheaper rate and when we went into the office he handed me the invoice that i agreed to where it said "Paint front window pillars". to which i pointed out and said, i think you'll be doing them for me for free.

he did them for free, but oversprayed the fuck out of my dashboard. i had to remove it and repaint it myself.

although i can't say i'd recommend them. it's kind of like saying you went to burger king and got a shitty hamburger. you get what you pay for.

my advice for maaco is take your time and go over everything you want. write it down for yourself before you even go there, then make sure you see it on the invoice. don't assume they will do anything fucking logical. the paint job from the PO they taped the damn taillights and painted around them, when it would have been easier and faster to just remove them.

i'd suggest pulling all the windows and taping/masking them yourself to avoid interior overspray. it will look WAY better then their half ass attempts at masking your window seals.

overall the PO's exterior maaco job is holding up okay. chipped a few places, would be less noticeable on a same color job. all the jack point areas chipped away, most likely they were not cleaned or prepped, so you may want to make sure those are cleaned up.

anyway, good luck.

[PDXWesty]

I had good experience here in Portland with Maaco when I painted an old bus. You just have to do all the prep work yourself. Strip everything and put it all back yourself. See if you can do or get the sanding and body work done. The paint is all in the prep. Talk with the shop owner and say you're willing to pay some extra for the prep to be done right. I had a Urethane paint job that lasted 10 years. Good luck!
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89 Westy 2.1 Auto

[j_dirge]

I used Maaco in Redwood City and had mixed results.

If you do ALL your own rust prep, you are bound to get a better end result.
I allowed the shop to "recondition" the top of our old Hoda Civic.. Lots of pinhole rust spots.. clearcoat nearly gone.

We passed on metallic and clearcoat and went with a solid color.

And we paid for better paint and (assuming) more surface prep.


Results?
The paint job was acceptable, though hardly show quality.

Lots of debris in the paint.. Lots of cleanup for me.. The detailer was pretty lame.

In all I paid some $1800 for their next-to-top-of-line paint and some minor ding repair.. as well as the "conditioning" of the top surfaces as noted above.


My guess is they did not "recondition" anything.. The paint has been slowly bubbling on the top since maybe 6 months after the job was complete. (Warranty on rust is 90 days HAHAHA!)


I still think you can get a decent job done at Maaco. But you have to hold thier feet to the fire and stay involved in the project. In our case, the manager/owner sold me the estimate.. then he handed it off to one fo his guys to do and follow up with me.
Something may have been lost in the transfer of expectations.

Maaco?
I'd give them a 5 out of a possible 10.

Looked at Earl, too.. 3 out of 10. Lot of spray-everytihng crap on their lot.


When its time for the Westy.. I'm spending the money to get it done right.
In the meantime, I garage it to keep the original paint as long as I can.. but its going.. going too fast.
Autorella in Santa Cruz has received some good comments.. but not cheap.
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-89 GL Westy, SVX.. finally.

-57 pan f/g buggy with a 67 pancake Type 3 "S"
"Jimi Hendrix owned one. Richard Nixon did not"
-Grand Tour, Season 1, episodes 4 and 5

[madspaniard]

Call Buslab and ask them for the paint shop they recommend. I've seen a $7,000 full paint job and a $1,000 paint job (only exterior, nothing taken apart) done by that paint shop and they both looked great
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1991 Westy auto w/ Peloquin TBD

"The only difference between me and a madman is that I'm not mad” - Salvador Dali

[vwlovr]

i agree with madspaniard, i think it doesn't hurt to ask a decent bodyshop. since you're in seaside i'd recommend asking van cafe for recommendations near santa cruz.

i'm near seaside now, heading to motoGP tomorrow

[buildyourown]

I have no experience with Maaco. However, my neighbor just tried to get his '66 Rover painted there and the price was outrageous. He offered to do all the prep and trailer the vehicle over. In the end, he said screw it and went and bought a paint gun.
Personally, I would find a reputable guy who is willing to work with you. Tell him exactly what you will do and exactly what you expect him to do.
Never assume you can do all the prep. When paint guys hear "I'll do all the prep, you just spray the paint", they know they will still have to put a bunch of time into prep.

[blakeck2]

Id do it all myself if I were you, There are a couple places that will rent out a paint booth and you'll just have to bring your supplies. It'll be a lot cheaper and you'll be able to blame your results on yourself

[MLTIGGER2]

Maaco is a franchise, each one is independently owned and operated.
The one here in Fort Wayne, IN is good, other Maacos are not so good.
Drop by everyday for a couple of weeks and look at recently painted cars. If they meet your approval, I'd say go for it. If you aren't happy with the results, look elsewhere.

[aguabonita]

So, at your advice, I went to a local auto body shop. They quoted me 1,700 to repair three problematic areas.

All told, I will probably go with that as I don't really need the van completely repainted. I mostly just want to nip the rust in the bud and clean her up a bit.

Thanks for your advice all.
Kevin

P.S. I am still soliciting ideas if anyone wants to chime in.
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'87 Westfalia, GW 2.2, and some other goodies
'90 Volvo 245

[Terry Kay]

A Westy is a pretty sound investment, and it sure seems that if in the event you ever wanted to sell it , they bring pretty much top dollar.

With this in mind, I would suggest dropping a few more bucks into the refinishing than the Joe Blow Maaco or Earl paint job.

It'll pay for itself in time--in spades.

One note;
It was mentioned in an earlier post that the Maaco job was only going to be a temporary thing.---

Well, let me help you out on this one.
When it comes time to refinish the Van right ( somehwhere down the road) with a top notch basecoat / clearcoat urethane paint job--the Van will have to be totally stripped of the Maaco garbage, or the deluxe paint will blow off in sheets.

Your depending that the $19.95 paint job is going to hold down the good paint.

It won't, and you'll have more problems than you can imagine.

So, in the long run it's going to cost you double later on, for what you could get right now for half the price--and this is just for proper preporation charges of taking all of the Maaco garbage off, down to the original paint, sanding , priming, sanding & refinishing again.

I'd skip the low buck, bargain deal altogether, and go for the right paint job now.

That is; If you plan on keeping the Van for more than two weeks, after the low buck "Johnny One Coat" squirt job.

Usually Earl, or Maaco paint jobs are nothing more than "one step closer to the bone yard" jobs.
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T.K.

[dredward]