Patsum

I have heard so many sketchy and negative things about maaco I never ever gave them a shot.

Someone backed into my 06 IS350 a week ago and I was so heartbroken.... I looked for shops and decided to give my local maaco shop a try... I figured if they **** up that badly I'll buy a new bumper off ebay for $168 and have a real shop spray primer and base and clear and throw it on the car myself.

My cars color is Smoky granite mica. Beautiful color.

The job took 1 day and cost me $220 with tax. They are running some sort of special for bumpers and the paint is basecoat plus clear coat and the paint is 2 stage sherwin williams. I know my regular shop uses high quality tri coat PPG but they wanted $900 for this bumper job...

Here are my results.. color me impressed...no overspray...great match...now I just have to see if it stands the test of time! I honestly think the lexus paint is glossier and deeper but for the money I can't tell on a car with 160,000 miles and being 7+ years old now

What I figured out is each maaco shop is owned by different people who do NOT have to follow a strict corporate structure... so some maaco shops suck *** and some are OK. This is horrible for brand reputation. But it was either this or try one of the craigslist we paint cars ads.

The one I used was on Northland BLVD in Cincinnati, Ohio. They told me they got a new owner. this always makes my bull**** alarm go off when people with bad yelp reviews claim to change owners and to *give them a chance*

I USUALLY use a shop called Three J's wreck tech when insurance pays since they cost a ton but do great work but this time I was low on cash and wanted her fixed up without dealing with insurance... so I have seen great work done before and this isn't bad at all compared for a used car.

Just wanted to share.

I think a clear bra is on order to avoid bumper rash from other idiots now... and yes I have the painted caps for all the holes I just have yet to install them back!

Before


After

wilsonwho

iTrader: (1)

dang, that's a pretty nice job! I have some super light scratches on my rear lip and bumper so I'll probably look into this

s6 4rings

iTrader: (1)

You can tell its a Maaco job, no offense, there is no luster to the paint in the repaired area.

Allan1

Wetsand and buff it out, it will look good.

reyoasian

iTrader: (2)

maybe they only buffed it out...without repainting

pmanliu

iTrader: (4)

^You can see spots in the first pic where its down to the plastic so pretty sure they repainted it

Patsum

Trust me it is repainted in the area affected and then they clearcoated the entire bumper.

I understand it is not as deep or shiny and that is the price between a $200 job and a near $1K job.

I am honestly pretty happy for having gone the cheap method. I think if my car had pearl or finer flakes in it then it would probably look like **** though

Keep in mind both pics are two different times of days from 2 different cameras so the tones look off, it's the exact same color.

just wanted to share how well it went for me. I tried to find example pictures online of maaco jobs and very few existed much less for a lexus

ColtM4A3

For many on here a Maaco job would be unacceptable. When you have to balance how much money is worth putting into a car with 160k on the clock I think you did just fine. You are correct that your color bought you A LOT of forgiveness on match and how it layed out. Hope it holds up for you!

Patsum

For a car that cost me $9500 to buy, yeah.. cost to benefit ratio vs age vs resale. It all came down to what is making me happy with this thing worth

I had a pearl colored 1998 LS400 that I had to have a higher end professional shop that cost $2400 for a partial paint job redo the sides of the car THREE times because that color was so hard to get down right. The insurance company said they were the best in my area. That shop told me some colors are almost impossible to factory match.

Thank god for SGM on my is plus I like the color better than any lexus I have owned before, Obsidian is my next choice in color though. Now if only I could keep dirt off it forever... I'd be set

vboi4life

iTrader: (2)

I'm from Cincinnati Ohio.i will probably see u around.

davyjordi

looks good to me - no one is going to be scrutinising the bumper closely enough to notice a purported lack of "lustre" in such a small area - the paint matches and it shines well enough, you're good to go.

istundra

iTrader: (2)

looks good. how does it match with rest of the car?

did they use your paint code for color???

I saw this guy in the Used Car Dealer parking lot eye-balling paint mixture for Eternal Blue Pearl. came out not matching but not surprising at all! LOL

zmcgovern4

iTrader: (2)

While it is definitely better than a damaged bumper, the resprayed area clearly lacks clarity and depth. Look at the reflection of your feet in the 1st pic vs. the 2nd. You can see how much more clear and vivid the reflections are - this is how a quality paint job will look.

Lucky for you, a good detailer should be able to restore the lack of clarity (assuming the dullness is a result of poor sanding/polishing and not a defect in the actual base coat of the paint... which is unlikely).

ISFPOWER

iTrader: (20)

i use to work in a pretty good body shop in my area. the thing is, they didn't wetsand at all. your reflection off the bumper shows how dull it is. im sure the orange peel doesn't match either with the rest of the car. i know you didn't feel like paying more with high mileage but i think an extra 250 dollars is a small price to pay especially if you ever want to sell or keep the car.

s6 4rings

iTrader: (1)

A quality bumper repaint is i think 500-700? i just hope there is enough clearcoat on there. curious also to see if paintjob lasts? def not being negative, just curious.