topic

How deep are the scratches?


You get what you pay for. They're the cheapest place you could possibly find.

It'* deep enough where meguries scratch remover won't do it and my finger nail can "dip" into them

how big is the scratch? as in how long? do you have any pics of it? might be something you can attempt yourself with some Duplicolor, a little sanding and some clear coat.

I would try myself first. Just use touch up paint to fill in the scratch. You'll need to do several applications to build it up properly. The CAREFULLY, VERY CAREFULLY wet sand the area to even out the touch up paint.

You may also want to try the Mothers Paint Chip Repair Kit if wet sanding scares you. I have used the kit with limited sucess on the family van.

Theres 3 very long scratches along the length of the drivers side doors and lot of smaller scratches. Someone keyed the car pretty good. Thought it was there when I bought it.

MAACO is hit and miss. They may be a natioal brand, but each shop is individually owned, so there'* no consistency. Some people have reported good results. Others, the worst you could imagine. Your best bet is to check with who the locals recommend in your area.

Way back when, they painted my fathers TORONADO. When they put the letters back on the trunk lid, they put them back like this: TORNADO.
That'* the only dealings I have had with them

They are hit or miss. That said, I've had a couple hits with them, but I am selective about what I take to them. I had them completely repaint my wife'* former car, an 88 GP, which was black. The original paint was badly scratched, and the new Maaco paint job was excellent.

I also had them repaint the rear bumper cover on my Bonneville. I had a small crack in the cover near the driver side red reflector from where I backed into a bush. Over time it caused paint to start peeling, because my bumper had been refinished at a really good shop once, after an accident.

I took it to the shop that refinished it, just wanting them to sand it out and shoot it with paint. They refused, said they wanted to remove the bumper cover and send it out to be refinished, then remounted. Wanted some assinine amount of money like $1700 for it.

Maaco sanded it, filled it, painted it. For $300. It looks new.
But you need to specify that you want them to use the real paint for your car, because they offer that acrylic paint for their cheapie paint jobs, and that'* not the same as our factory paint. Mine is a basecoat clearcoat, and they both asked, and I specified, that I wanted factory paint. They complied, and it looks factory.

I don't know if I'd go there for everything, but for something like my bumper covers and sideview mirrors, I'd go there again.

But each one is definitely hit or miss. If you do use them, go over everything carefully before you drive off their lot. If there'* anything like runs or drips, it'* in their contract that you need to identify it BEFORE you accept the car and drive off.

And yes, with auto body work and paint work, you almost always get what you pay for, and by that measure, Maaco might even be expensive if you want them to do good work with the right materials. It'* best to get referrals locally, for a good body shop. A body shop is only as good as the people who work there.