My son has a 1994 Firebird that needed minor touch up body work on the front and rear bumpers, however, the existing paint was in bad shape (terribly oxidized in many spots). I did a lot of research to find the right place to take his car for a facelift. He is a teenager and operates on a very small budget. The only place he could afford to take it was Maaco. I was concerned because I have read nothing but negative reviews about Maaco, but considering his financial situation we decided to give them a try.

We went to Maaco on Fowler St in Tampa and was greeted by a very friendly and professional staff and was given a great deal, one we couldn't pass up. We were so excited that we decided to leave the car with them that day but had no way to get home. No problem for the Maaco staff. The manager of the store volunteered to give us a ride home.

We dropped the car off on a Monday with an estimated completion day of Friday. When Friday rolled around, we received a call from them with news that the paint had fisheyes and runs and the staff said they were not satisfied with the outcome. The manager apologized and said it would be done Monday or Tuesday the next week.

We talked to them on Monday and regretfully they said it wasn't quite finished, but would be ready before close of business Tuesday. When we came on Tuesday we were excited to see what looked like a brand new car. The smile on my son's face was priceless. The paint job was emaculant.

They again apologized for the delay and assured us that if we have any problems with the paint job we could bring it in and they would take care of us.

Overall it was a very pleasent experience, and I would recommend them to anyone. I can't speak for other franchise locations, but the Maaco on Fowler in Tampa is top notch. I will be taking my daughter's car there as well.

In my opinion, Maaco gets a bad rap merely because of the volume of work they do. The problem seems that the only people that take the time to write a review, are the people who had a bad experience (with few exceptions). I'd be willing to bet they have 10 satisfied customers to every 1 dissatisfied customer. I challenge the satisfied customers to let their voices be heard.

Those who have experienced nightmares at the hands of Maaco or any business, my heart goes out to you. There is no excuse for a customer to be treated poorly, ever!

Best wishes to all.

Thanks for the sincere report. I've never heard much either way about Maaco but have read many times that you can't get a good paint job for less than $5,000. I'm glad to hear that you were well taken care of at this Maaco... sounds like a smart business person.

--Bob

I have recently had my car Painted by Maaco in Hagerstown Md.When I first took them my 2002 Mitsubishi Eclipse it was estimated that they would put a body kit and paint my car a completely different color in one week!I dropped if off on a Monday with Brand New Wheels already on and was excited for the transformation!Monday came and they said the car wasn't ready it was more work than expected!It would be ready Thursday or Friday so, I called Thursday,sorry not ready!It was going to be ready Monday so,I called Monday still not ready it was going to be Thursday.Finally after three weeks that they had my car, two more than they had originally said I was able to pick it up! Immediatley I saw many things wrong with the paint and after looking over the entire car I was upset that the car had not been put together well at all.Paint was running on the front bumper,green showed threw from the body kit, cracks in the molding and specs in the paint.They broke my brackets that holds stripping around the front window.The door jams were a different shade of white than the rest of the car.The rear lights weren't installed evenly so one was over more than the other.Even though all of these things were wrong with my Eclipse the one thing that upset me the most was my Brand New black wheels($1800) had white paint from over spray on them!!!They agreed to fix the problem areas but with many excuses!And even asked if I would pay for labor!I reminded them of their handbook which states they stand behind their workmanship and of my warranty.Of course they took the car back to fix the problems however everyday the dates change on when I'll get my car back.I am sorry I don't have my car back yet to let you know of what I hope will be the final outcome.But my advice to anyone considering Maaco in Hagerstown, is don't expect a professional paint job and save yourself the headache!

I had recently brought my 2002 lexus in for some bodywork. they told me it would take about 4 to 5 business days to get done. they called me on the fifth day and said the car was done. i went to the maaco and looked over the car and i must say they did a wonderful job. the car looked wonderful. the maaco in fort myers was so pleasent to deal with. they were very nice and professional. i would reccommend anyone to go there for any type of work.
thanks guys for the good service.

I went to Maaco to get a bumper sticker removed & area repainted due to the sticker pulling off paint. Quote was $180 & they explained the process of painting the area & blending. I was in no hurry to receive the car back. They called back & said they had to paint the whole bumper bc the old paint was chipping, which was understandable. I had my fiance pick up the car with another driver, so I did not see it until I got home. The paint was completely different & it was VERY noticeable. When I open my truck there was paint chips everywhere inside! I took the car back, they gave a reason about it not always matching, but this was wayyyy off & there was no excuse for it being dirty. I'm not even asking for a full detail, just clean after yourself. They agreed that they could get it to a closer match but it would cost for the paint. I did not mind paying at all. I got the car back the 2nd time & the new color was a perfect match. BUT, the inside of my car door, console, steering wheel & seats had paint smears & dirt. Friendly staff, bad service! Please don't take this as a bad look for allll MAACO's but this is MY experience that I am sharing. Hope it helps! I wish they could have gotten the paint right the first try and cleaned the car where they left a mess.

I just had a 56 Thunderbird painted at Maaco in Hagerstown, MD. All the body work and taping was done before Maaco received the car. First they did not even paint all of the parts even though it was written down and all were located in the trunk. Second, after the first stage of a two stage paint job they did not wet said. The whole car (except for the two doors has major orange peel. They did no wet sanding end didn't even wait long enough for curing time before applying a single coat of clear. I was told two coats, but if they did, I don't know of any spray gun that could have put it on that thin.

They are refusing to do anything to correct their poor workmanship. They said it matches their policies and they are not responsible. I now have to pay another painter to wet sand thoroughly and re-shoot base and top coats. Fortunately my body guy has found a painter that is an excellent painter and has told us that it will cost $800 to $1000 plus paint to wet sand, shoot new base coats, wet sand, shot clear coats, wet sand and buff.

I have looked at his recent work and will go with him.

I had seen single stage from this particular Maaco and it was very good. No runs or orange peel. I guess they just don't sell many 2 stage and don't know how to do it anyway.

So stay away from 2 stage with Maaco as they said they are not responsible for fixing orange peel, i.e. wet sanding it away before clear coating.

Don't expect a new car look for $300. As I have said elsewhere, if you have a car worth $2000 that needs paint, the MAACO $300 job is great. If it's a good MAACO they will explain this - if you don't mind a fwe runs, drips and errors, this process is cheaper is cheaper than you trying to do it yourself.

If you want the best, they have a "signature" paint service that is over $2,000 with the 2-stage clear coat process. I'd not do it at MAACo unless you see the facility and see that they have a paint shop with all the appropriate equipment to handle clear coat, including a baking process. If they are drying cars in the shop or outside, go elsewhere. But I had an old beater truck with low miles and an intact body and very poor paint; I took it to MAACO and did the basic service where they tape off windows and such and run it through a spray paint. Frankly, it looked great - for $300! Yes, there were runs, yes a few squiggles, yes, a few places where it got on the rubber. Who cares? It was a beater before; now it was well above beater status.

An honest MAACO dealer will talk to you about what you are trying to accomplish and go from there. I'm sure not all franchises are the same, so maybe the one here is better than others.

I have a 1985 GMC S-15 that I bought new, here in Oregon.
I checked estimates around town, but found nothing for less than $3,000. Took it to the maaco shop in Eugene for an estimate. The manager took me through the whole shop & explained each step of the process & had several cars to show me for an example of their work. Estimate: prep plus (which is their better, "wet sand" prep, and one I would recommend), $200. The presidential paint service, their next to best basic, $400. Body labor to repair a dent (baseball size & a good inch deep plus bad rusting on lower
right rear box), $150. Said they could have it done within 5 busi. days, so I decided to go for it. The truck was done on time. And the job? It looked great! Very minimal overspray (since they mask off) Price didn't include shooting the bed (canopy on the back anyway), inside of the hood or the doorjams. That was 18 months ago & the paint job is holding up as well as when it was 1st done.
I do garage it, so that definitely helps. They knocked off a little of the labor, so the total was $700. The thing to remember is that each macco is independantly owned/operated
so quality may vary. And it's best to go with the factory color on a repaint, and it's $100 more if you do change colors. Overall, I was quite pleased with the job & service.

i see in many posts about maaco saying things like don't expect 300.00 paint job to be great that kinda makes me abit crazy here is why
in 2003 i took my 1995 camaro to maaco since it had been keyed and needed 1 side painted well i was talked into a 1300.00 premium paint job (the best they had) with what they said i needed a "buffing" to make it even more glass like when i went to see car it was totally spider webed plus countless other flaws oh and they ruined my taillights also.. well it took them 6 attempts to get the paint right 3 months and it still had flaws but they would not fix it any more well in 2008 it was peeling and cracking so i had it repainted 900.00 and they said roof needed some body work to fix the tiny cracks .. it took 4 times and 4 weeks to get it right again . well in 2011 the paint is peeling again and roof cracks are back so i went back since this time its still under the warranty so I'm told they can fix / repaint the full car i was told 2 days later roof needs "body work" and that the last time it was done it was done wrong so they wanted 200.00 more until i told them i had proof it was their work so 8 days later its ready they say ... i went too pick it up and well too much to list here but i had 3-5 inch long runs on one side panel the places that were peeling they just sprayed over the full car was orange peeled to show the level of quality they even painted over the old pin striping then reapplied striping lower on one side than the other and GET THIS they ripped off the professional window tint i had on the drivers door window for a few years that was not peeling b4 they said its not their fault it happened when they blew the dust off the car anyway its been another 13 days and its supposed to be ready again so i will look tomorrow but I'm not holding hope trust me AVOID THEM UNLESS YOU OWN A JUNKER
so no i dont expect perfect from 300.00 but i also dont expect a 300.00 paint job for 1000 to 1300.00

THANKS SO MUCH!
This review was so much help for me. I'm turning 16 in June and I really need a paint job on the car my mom just bought. It needs a lot of work and I'm def. going to Macco for the repairs. It seems like they have reasonable prices!

This shop restored my 2003 Toyota Corolla S last week. The car has 154k miles on it. The paint on the front bumper and hood before the restoration was acid-pitted, chipped, stained, and badly oxidized. The window sills and roof-drip-rails were rotting. The headlights, fog-lights, and grill were badly weathered and cracked. The hood was dented and “oil-canning”. There were dents in the roof and both front doors along with permanent scratches in multiple locations. The front ground effects pieces were loose and the front bumper was misaligned.

Chas did the estimate, the bill matched the estimate, and the finished product was delivered a week later, exactly according to schedule. Chas and his partner Danny were both very professional in our interactions, and keenly aware of customer service. After delivery, I discovered a loose wire, a part that needed to be re-glued, and a couple of missing fasteners. I was able to bring the car in at my convenience and wait a very short while for the tweaks to be completed.

Body work is one of those things that is ripe for problems. The Palm River Road Maaco shop made a big restoration job painless. The result is stellar! I would recommend this shop to my grandmother.