engine and drivetrain Maaco painted my 74tii the wrong color!!

[Guest]

I went to Maaco to save a little money. The guy there was cool and he was able to find the original Fjord color on his compter. I offered to buy the paint and bring it to him but he insisted he had the right mix. I already had the engine bay painted when the engine was out for a rebuild. When i went to pick it up today it was obvious that the color was about two shades darker. I pointed out that it did not match the engine bay. He said he can only paint what the computer tells him to paint. He agrees that the color does not match. Im paying about $1900. The paint job looks very good, but im upset that it does not match. I spent a lot of time stripping the car down completey, no rubber, windows, bumpers, etc... Just got the engine rebuilt, polished the bumpers, and now my car is not even the color i want it to be.

What should i do? Should i kick and screem and tell him i want it done right! or should i settle for a nice looking sort-of Fjord color?

Jon

[TobyB]

car painting is never cheap! I think the best you can hope for, since he's admitting guilt,

is getting a few bucks back, or maybe getting him to color sand it for free...

Maaco uses their own paint system (it used to be Nason, but that was years ago) and it probably doesn't have the same mix as what you used to paint the engine bay.

That being said, I went back to the SAME PPG distributor 2 years after painting my car Atlantik- and got a completely different color. The fix? Some white tint that I could use to match it myself! And for my hissy fit at THAT, I got a quart of clear on the house.

Toby

[cj]

If it's not the right color or the color you agreed to then have him re-shoot it. Talk to the guy and come up with a comprimise you can live with and not be out a ton of cash. Maaco is a large chain so I'm sure there is a proper workorder outlining the job, color, timeframe etc.

Cris

[esty]

if you can live with it, i'd recommend against putting anymore paint on it...to much is not a good thing...too much makes for deep chips and cracks that are hard to repair....

i'd dance a jig with the dude in charge and his boss and get some of my money back and tell myself i got a sweet deal and a bitchin paint job

was it single stage or bc/cc...that would make a difference in shading.......besides being the wrong shade, how'd it turn out?

[wazzu70]

I hate Maaco. I took a car there I wanted repainted before selling. I stripped it down, sanded it, smoothed it, ect. I know what I am doing but just didnt have the time to actually shoot it so I prepped it. Tehy called me and said that the price they quoted me would not work because they had to do a BC/CC since it was a pearl paint and thats the only way you can do this color. I said fine cause all the paint I bought for the car had always been seperated like that and I had never seen another option. Anyway I ended up paying about $1500 for a paint job that when I went to pick it up was not good at all. there was hairs, dirt, and stuff under the clear that cannot be sanded out ect. They also messed up a few things, painted over the few things I could not take off (rubber mouldings around windows) and didnt even paint half of the rear bumper. I was pissed and we argued for about 2 hours about it. Bottom line is they said buzz off, and we arent going to fix your stuff. so I had to go home and use the touch up they gave me to finish painting the bumper. and touch up spots. Not exactly what I wanted to do after spending 1500 bucks.

NEVER go to Maaco and in paint you always get what you pay for, although sometimes you still get ripped off (like Maaco). If you buy the paint yourself buy more than you need so if you need to touch up you have some.

[esty]

I hate Maaco. I took a car there I wanted repainted before selling.

what's the beef....sounds to me like you got what you paid for...a fast, affordable paint job on a car you plan'd to dump

unfortunately...i've had several great experiences with maaco....

[wazzu70]

I dont call 1500 bucks for a paint job you need to go home and fix yourself a bargain deal. Maybe thats just me.

[prsncat]

I second Chris' recommendation: see if there is something you can work out with them. But, metallic blue a couple of shades darker than the original might be very attractive. See if they will spray your engine bay, door jams, and trunk for a reduced price rather than re-doing the exterior -- especially if you like the color. My dad had a Maaco (in Anaheim) paint his DKW after he did most of the prep work. They did it wrong and he worked out a way for them to make it right. They didn't charge him for the labor... just materials. I am sure you can work something out with them too.

If you decide to have them re-spray it, then take the wrong paint down. You can use it to get the car even smoother. Too much paint on the car is not a good thing.

BTW, if you ever get back to the point where you consider selling your Mintgrun 75 02A again, then let me know. I am in the market for a square taillight automatic.

Brian Foster

[esty]

I dont call 1500 bucks for a paint job you need to go home and fix yourself a bargain deal. Maybe thats just me.

i agree but i would never drop that kind of money on a car i wasn't planning on keeping either....

[Guest]

car painting is never cheap! I think the best you can hope for, since he's admitting guilt,

is getting a few bucks back, or maybe getting him to color sand it for free...

Maaco uses their own paint system (it used to be Nason, but that was years ago) and it probably doesn't have the same mix as what you used to paint the engine bay.

That being said, I went back to the SAME PPG distributor 2 years after painting my car Atlantik- and got a completely different color. The fix? Some white tint that I could use to match it myself! And for my hissy fit at THAT, I got a quart of clear on the house.

Toby

Yes, i thought about asking for a deal (at least) on color sand.

[Guest]

Hey whats up Brian!

The guy said he would paint the engine bay but the engine is alreay back in the car. Im afraid of what it might look like if he trys to paint around everything. Maybe he can lightly blend it in. Ill probably remove all the fittings around the bay.

BTW a cute girl in Newport now owns my Mintgrun. She also bought the parts car i had for sale.

[BarryA]

created by having two different vendors for the paint.

That said, we had a similar problem with a paint job at Miracle on my step-son's car several years ago - their color list included the original color for his car (also a medium metallic blue), but the final job was several shades darker than the still-decent original paint on the jambs, trunk, and engine compartment.

I've also had similar experiences to what Toby mentioned - unfortunately, it only takes a tiny variation in the amount of tint going into a can of base white to make a pretty dramatic variation in the final color. Watch the guys at any paint counter (even Home Depot) use the mixing equipment sometime - half a thimble full of two or three tint colors will turn a gallon of pure white into mint green or orange or medium blue.

Another variable is the potential for subtle differences in the color of the tint pigments in batches mixed at different times - different paint lines (PPG, Sikkens, Glasso, etc) can also arrive at the same (or almost the same) color with different tint fomulas.

[Guest]

Yes, unfortunately i learned this the hard way. The original paint i bought it from a PPG distributer. I even showed the can to the guy. What sucks is that this seems like a common problem. Why didnt this guy know this? Why didnt he show me an example or test it before he sprayed. Thats the argument im going to use.

Jon

[robspeed]

Hey whats up Brian!

The guy said he would paint the engine bay but the engine is alreay back in the car. Im afraid of what it might look like if he trys to paint around everything. Maybe he can lightly blend it in. Ill probably remove all the fittings around the bay.

BTW a cute girl in Newport now owns my Mintgrun. She also bought the parts car i had for sale.

I would take the engine back out!!!! Definitely!! it may seem like a pain right now but in five years you'll look at it and say, god damn im glad i pulled the motor and had them reshoot the engine bay to match the car!!!

[Guest Anonymous]

Yes, that would be a pain!! When i saw the car it was still in thier builing. Im going to wait until i see it in the day light to see if its still very noticeable. I might just pull everything off the sides. Pull the radiator, tape off the brake lines and the new firewall and let them spray it.