why MAACO cannot possibly do a good job for $400

[Todd Phenneger]

Mike,
  Your are very right on many points.  And I WHolly agree that
for a keeper Audi (Unless its a track car only) Maaco is not the
place to go.
  BUT, a couple points I'd like to disagree on. :-(
1) They do spend less than you on paint, they get it through
their OWN suppliers, not the local paint supply store.  They pay
the same prices the paint supply store pays since Maaco (as I
understand it) gets paint as a CHAIN.  Just just a franchised
McDonalds does not get hamburger patties from the local Safeway.


2) For $400 you get a SINGLE Stage Paint.  Not as good as the
dual stage your putting on with a seperate clear coat.  Now for
what its worth this is not a BAD thing.  I have seen single
stage paitns that look AMAZING and LAST.  But not the ones that
MAACO uses.  A friends car got paited the same RED that the Miss
Budwieser Hydroplane is painted "he's friends with the boats
painter" and it looked Amazing.  It was a single stage paint.
ANyhow, that is one primarey reason they are able to save on
cost.  Cheaper materials and also cheaper labor as they only
shoot it once.  Then its done.

My Opinions, which are often wrong. :-)
l8r
  Todd

--- Mike Arman <armanmik at earthlink.net> wrote:
>
> MAACO has its place . . . and that place is NOT on an Audi we
> plan to keep
> for any length of time.
>
> I've used MAACO (or similar) on used cars I exported to the
> Caribbean -
> they'll be wrecked or rusted apart long before the paint
> oxidizes. I
> especially liked buying mid-90's GM cars where the factory
> paint fell off
> in large sheets and the car looked like it had an advanced
> case of the
> mange - you can buy these CHEAP because they look so BAD, and
> a cheap paint
> job later, they are on their way out of the country, looking
> just great,
> and sold for decent money, because the car underneath the
> awful paint is
> actually in decent condition.
>
> But here is why MAACO cannot possibly do a decent job on an
> Audi for $400.
>
> I'm currently painting my airplane, and am buying paint,
> thinner, gun wash,
> tape, tack rags, etc., etc., etc, at wholesale from a local
> auto body
> supply store - the exact same place the local MAACO etc. buys
> paint and
> supplies, and I am paying wholesale prices, exactly the same
> as the local
> MAACO does.
>
> Just out of curiosity, I asked what materials would cost to
> properly paint
> my 5000.
>
> Sealer, about $40, silver base/color coats, two part epoxy,
> about $100 for
> a quart (one quart needed), clear coat (again, a two part
> process), about
> $200 (I can't find the exact numbers or specs this instant,
> but these
> numbers are the result of about half an hour's conversation.
> These are good
> quality duPont paints on a scale of cheap-adequate-good-super)
>
> Basically, the PAINT alone to do the job correctly, with
> decent quality
> paint, will cost $350 to $400. That does not include any
> fillers,
> strippers, solvents, thinners, sandpaper, tape, masking
> sheets, tack rags,
> or anything else.
>
> Figure probably $500 in materials. Lord knows what the time
> would be to do
> this . . . but it is NOT a weekend job.
>
> Best Regards,
>
> Mike Arman
>
>


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