Anybody get Maaco?

I've sent stuff there over the years...

Your final work will not be show-winning... good maintenance paint... single stage acrylic.

Your best bet with them is for YOU to do the prep work and have them shoot the paint..

They do menu pricing on the body work.... meaning you need to spec out each of the issues you want done... if not they paint over it.... they also charge extra for some things (dash, rocker panels, door inners etc).

Back in college I had them shoot my Toyota... it lasted 2 years (in rust belt winters) until I sold it.

If you want maintenance value, it's a good option... you won't win any shows with their work.

Remember everything comes in black.

T.

I would NOT trust their rust repair. I went into one place and they told me they just grind down the rust and put bondo over it. This is NOT what I call rust removal. :-( If you don't do the prep work yourself, you could have a good shop repair the rust and any dents and dings and then get Maaco. JMHO

later, dave Reminder........ Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you criticize them, you are a mile away from them, and you have their shoes. Frieda Norris

I tried it one on one of my cars. The end result looked great until I went to the car wash after 30 days Blue paint flying everywhere. It took 3 paint jobs to get it right, and I sold it after that so don't know what happened after.

Just last week, I just got a quote from them for my 69 bug.

The guy said US$1500 to totally strip down to metal and paint. They mask over all the lights, windows, etc, so if you don't want that, you remove the stuff yourself before you bring it to them.

I have a large patch of surface rust on the roof and I'm not sure I trust them getting it all off and treated appropriately. I decided to go with a shop for twice the price but have specific experience with ACVWs. This shop said they'd remove all my old window rubber, etc, and replace it with the new stuff I got from WCM (that's sitting in boxes in my shed).

I want a bit better than maintenance paint, but not quite showroom quality either.

I'll report back in a month of so after it's all done how it went.

-Rob

dave wrote:

They are OK, but you are just paying them to spray on a coat of paint

- no detail work...

The previous owner of my Ghia used Maaco: they did a horrible job matching the paint color, there is overspray on everything, they painted right onto the window rubber, and after 5 years it is starting to peel off in sheets (likely the original paint wasn't prepped right

- maybe some residual wax or something).

That being said, the paint job looked decent, and I'm sure the price was right. I would recommend that you pull off everything possible (bumbers, mirrors, door handles, etc), and mask areas that you really care about yourself, especially the rubber.

Always....

DUCT!

Then leave it > Hi,

On Tue, 09 Sep 2003 14:48:28 -0700, Rob J left Mt Vesuvius in a state of jealous awe as he began spewing from the mouth thusly:

You're nowhere *near* ready to leave the temple, Grasshopper. :-)

-- Travis '63 VW Camo Baja...

your enemies. It messes with their heads.It doesn't take a very big person to carry a grudge. :wq!

Well I got the estimate done. They said I'd be better off with a new hood, b/c there was one spot of penetrating rust that once they started sanding, would put a hole through the hood. $390 minimum to fix the damage and re-paint 'er, if I supplied the new hood. Waddya think? I think I'm going to check out pricing at junkyards and the VW place in town for a new hood, and if it's too expensive, I'll take her to a better body shop where they can fix the damage. The hood I could've gotten through Maaco was priced at $475. So I'll have to get a new hood somewhere else. if Maaco does the job. Also, I have no experience sanding off rust and old paint. If I were going to prep myself, how would I go about that? Thanks for any help.

I'm not sure why these shops are so scared of fixing body sheet metal. I went to about 5 or 6 places and they all wanted me to replace all four fenders *and* the hood. The fenders, ok. Those do get banged up pretty bad. But my hood isn't that bad.

The shop I finally settled on said to save the *original* hood, that still closes on its latch sweetly, would cost me an additional three hundred bucks. Sounded good to me!

$475 for a hood sounds expensive. But I may be uninformed. I couldn't find hoods online at either Wolfsburg West or J Bugs.

-Rob

Anth> Well I got the estimate done. They said I'd be better off with a new

It takes them more time to repair even minor damage than to just bolt up a new part. What they are trying to do is keep your job from taking up shop space for any longer time that neccessary.

It's also possible that people with the necessary metalworking skills are no longer available, again because shops are avoiding such work whenever possible.

For those of us interested in preserving the dwindling supply of cars and parts, the incentive to acquire these skills for ourselves is great. That way, it can take as long as it takes.

Max

You're right, Max. I think I was posing a rhetorical question, more than anything.

I'd say of all the bodyshops I called, just under a half of them said they were mainly an insurance shop. Can't really blame em, that's where the money is. I didn't really want to drop six or eight grand into body and paint of a car that was, at the end of that, still be worth less than two grand.

But, on a more positive note, I called a boatload of shops, and there were a LOT more I could have kept calling. From that kind of competition and availability of shops (here in the South SF Bay Area), I'd surely hit one that I was OK with.

-Rob

Max wrote:

Good luck. I lived in South SJ for 17 years and never did find a body shop I'd trust with my Ghia.

Max

Wow, no kidding? When did you live around here?

Actually, I did find a shop in Campbell, called Shiro's. They actually don't mind working on ACVWs and say they're "sympathetic" to them. The owner knows Dave of Peninsula Auto, and Dave knew him (Daryl) too. That was encouraging.

I'll be dropping my Bug off with them next week. Like I mentioned earlier in this thread, I'll post here how things went.

-Rob

Max wrote:

We had a house near Santa Theresa Blvd from 1983 to

2001, then moved to Colorado. Yes I am quite familiar with Penninsula Automotive. Also Volks Authority (Ray Shubert). I wouldn't be surprized if we know some of the same people.

There used to be a club called Blitzkrieg VWs (now defunct). Some former members reformed as the BLTN (Better Late Than Never) club for late-models. Across the bay is the Wolfsburg Pacific club. And of course the Golden Gate Chapter of the VWCNA.

Yeah. If you know of those clubs, then we know some people in common. And if you visit some of the older "Adventures" on my site, you may see some of them.

Max

I remember the Blitzkreig Club from when I did the links page. Wasn't Nelson Brum active in that club. I have not seen a post on any for the forums from Nelson in a while. Is he still active in the ACVW scene.

Bill Berckman

67 Beetle Pictures at Family Reunion Show Sept 21 2003 Cincinnati OH