coldfusion

Hey everyone. So the clearcoat on my 94 GS sedan is failing on the hood, roof and trunk. I was told that i might as well just get a new paintjob.

Can anyone recommend a bodyshop in the Los Angeles area that does pretty decent work for a good price? Any info would be great. By the way, the car is black

 

Joe Germain

One good bodyshop that you could check out is Maaco. I'm sure there's bound to be one around LA if you wanted you could get your car completely repainted for under 700$ They don't have the best reviews but I had my Legend painted at the VT location and turned out very well (as you can see from my signature pic). I would try them out. It's worth a shot.

Joe Germain

here's a link with a few Maacos around LA

maaco in Los Angeles, CA on Yahoo! Local

231k

i've heard horrible things about maaco paint jobs. sometimes them failing within a year.. etc.

i'd try the yellowpages or dex.com and get some quotes. go shopping for sure, probably the best choice.

unless of course, somebody here knows some good guys or shops

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Joe Germain

It depends on what painting package you get that determines the life of the paint job. I got the signature service. They will guarantee it for 5 years. it cost me 650$
But it's up to you. I did it because I know that there's not enough life in my car to spend 2000 dollars on a really good professional job. I know that maaco doesn't rate too highly but I'll bet that there's 10 satisfied customers to every 1 dissatisfied customer.

Once again, It's up to you

231k

i guess good point unless you're making a car for show

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coldfusion

Thanks for the info guys. Has anyone tried earl scheib? I wanted to get a good paint job at first but judging on how old the car is and how much it would cost to get a really good paint job, i figured it might not be worth it. My legend has around 130k miles but the interior still looks pretty new

Joe Germain

Hey, I've heard some pretty good things about Earl Schieb although I don't personally know anyone that's done business with them. There's not much of that stuff here in Vermont.
Make sure you get some pics posted after the paint job is done. I look forward to seeing it!

reboticon

Ive got the same problem. Clear coat failure on 2 panels. Im NOT a paint/body guy, i just lack the patience. Is it not possible though, to sand off the clearcoat with a really high rated sandpaper? Would save a ton of money at a body shop if you could. Id also be comfortable enough with my sanding skills to sand it off, its bondo work that drives me crazy.

As for the cheap paint jobs, i've gotten them before.. For the price i was very happy with what i had got. The negatives are, they are not so careful with overspray as you would like them to be. My tailpipe ended up the same color as my bumper. Usually they use a paint that goes on in 1 step, instead of 2 steps. The downside of this is that the paint has a tendency to look a little "flat". If you look at Joe Germans paint, it is applied very nicely, but it doesn't have that "still wet" look that a $2500 paint job is going to have, even though its sitting right in the sun. Look at 231Ks sig to get an example of a car that has that "still wet" look.

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Fixing legends is easier than fixing lolcats, but the parts are way more expensive..

astigracing

stay away from maaco. don't ask, trust me.

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coldfusion

I dont have any recent pics of the car but i took these pics about 3 years ago after i detailed the entire car. This is when the paint was still perfect. The interior is pretty much still in the same condition though. I guess its partly my fault for not taking the greatest care of the car like i used to the past 3 or so years.

Joe Germain

Youre absolutely right about the car. The interior looks to be in basically perfect condition. If you are planning to keep the car a long time, get a higher quality job... have a pro do it. or if you plan on selling the car and are only worried about resale on a shorter term... go somewhere cheaper ex: maaco, earl schieb... whatever you can find close by. I really can't tell how the paint job on my car will be 3 to 5 years from now (i probably won't even have the car that long) since I just got my car painted less than a month ago.

BTW: In really any light, my car really does look stunning and "wet" and very sparkly. (plus i haven't waxed or washed it yet since the paint is new) The picture just doesn't do it justice. (not much of a photographer )Just thought i'd add that in.

I'll have a better sig pic soon!

coldfusion

Well the car does have sentimental value since we've had the car for 14 years. I'm just not sure if its still worth it to do an expensive paint job. I guess i'll just have to shop around. I dont really drive it daily since i drive my g coupe daily, but i still love the looks of the legend. And when the paint was still good, i would still get compliments

tigerbite84

Maaco is really not that bad. I had it done to my CRV and I had the top notch level and they added a spoiler and wired everything to it. It costed $1200 for everything. Don't get me wrong, it's a bit high for Maaco, but it was to paint the entire SUV, install, wire, and paint the spoiler. When I inspected the car, it was very good, and no over spray. I was very impressed that I will be bringing my new legend to them in a couple of weeks. I believe that 1.) each shop is independently owned, meaning one shop can be good and one shop could be bad (it's a franchise). 2.) That you get what you pay for, I paid a higher price, and got a very good deal out of it.

Ken

if you do go with maaco, I suggest you remove and mask off everything yourself and prep the surface yourself.

you're in the LA area, check out "Fast Lane Collision Center" in Long Beach. Ask around for the guy that drives the RHD integra and tell him you saw his car on norcaltuners.com and maybe he'll cut you a deal.

Here's his car, he painted it himself:

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. k e n

Parting out a 91 L 5-speed, let me know if you need any parts besides engine and 5-speed parts. The car is Rosewood brown with type E cloth interior.