hopefully didnt take 5 years like this necro post did

 

Is this real? Or is it such high level sarcastic comedy that it's over my head?

 

Those Earl Sheib ads were real. I distinctly remember them. But, not surprisingly, it was clearly not a show-quality paint-job. To some extent at least, you got what you paid for.

 

I got an E.S. budget paint job 30 years ago.

It was cheap and I got what I paid for, that's for sure.
Truck had no shine to the paint job from any angle in direct summer sunshine beaming down on it.

Paint was rough and felt like 120 grit sandpaper running fingers across it.
For $250 back then to do the whole truck on a color change with door jams I didn't complain.

Was I happy? lol
Don't get me started on the overspray... haha

 

LOL I was thinking the same thing!

A friend of mine got his mustang painted by Maaco for like $200 back around 1990 and it actually wasn’t a bad paint job for the price and was much better than what it was before it.

 

Agreed....like Scheib, Maaco was not bad for the price, but you could not compare it to an original factory or showroom-quality paint job.

Maaco was known for their "Uh-Oh" ads.

 

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As to the painting of a front bumper today, it depends. Depends on how much prep to fill pits or dents, how many stage paint you need, and especially if they are going to take off the bumper or just mask around it. Not removing it can still get a good looking job and takes several hours less time than removing/replacing all the wiring and screws.

On my 3 stage paint recently, it would have been about $8-900. to remove, but half that to paint in place.

Since most of my damage was from rock pits, I decided to protect it from any pits in the future for an Xpel PPF bumper job which was $500. That included the headlights.

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My cousin had a Maaco paint job done to a Hyundai he had years ago, it was terrible.

 

My first car, a '65 Buick Skylark GS, received an ES paint job 50 years ago this month. I had performed (if you want to call it that) all of the body and prep work ahead of time and took the car to them all taped up. The cost was $39.95 for their deluxe job. It also involved a radical color change (I was an idiot at 17) from turquoise to midnight blue. It actually turned out good except for a long horizontal run on one quarter panel. After a couple of weeks that let the enamel harden, it was returned for correction. All in all, it was a good experience. Even then, it was a marvel that they could do the job at such a small price.

 

Not surprising that you had your Buick repainted....the Acrylic Lacquer paint GM and AMC used in the 1960s was lousy. It didn't chip as easily as the Baked-Enamel that Ford and Chrysler used, but often oxidized and faded out within a year or so unless you kept it religiously waxed. That, of course, was also before the days of clearcoat paint, which transformed a lot of things.

BTW, I also briefly owned a '65 Skylark (not a GS model...it had the 5.0L V8 and two-speed automatic)