I am prepping my parents old 91' lexus es250 for a maaco paint job (we havn't figured out which stage we will go with, possibly around the $300-400 range)

I am currently fixing all the dings will filler, and then wetsanding with 220 and then 400 before taking it to them.

I dont have any access to an epoxy primer, would a store bought spray can primer be a good idea?

doesnt the auto stores sell a primer/sealer in a spray can?

(one reason being so that the paint will adhere better with the primer, and also to be able to drive that car without it looking completely un-presentable)

Or should we pay maaco to spray a primer down instead?

 

they will prime an seal the car for like 99 bucks not bad

 

just depends on how much money you want to spend.... yeah the auto stores should sell plenty of can spray primer, but primer from the shop will probably be better prep for the paint. your choice

 

or get a nice paint job and spend more $$ ..."you get what you pay for"

 

Are you serious? You're going to have the car painted by the shittiest place possible and you're worried about the outcome.

 

HAHAHAHAHA, exactly what I was thinking

 

ya dont go to macco they are the worst paint place out there. if you wet sanded your body filler you should take it off body filler soaks up water and if there is bare metal under neath it will start to rust. spend more money if you want a descent paint job.

 

well- this car isn't really worth much- its the first lexus ever made- maybe worth $1000 dollars at the most.

I dont really see any point on spending more for a paint job then what the car is worth.

I know that maaco is known for shitty jobs- but I have also heard that if you do good prep than it should turn out alright (atleast better than how the paint looks right now

 

Naw, it's the second shitiest plase, the shitiest is Earl Shieb.

 

Lexus has been around since 1989

 

yeah I know-

the two first models were the lexus ls400 and the es250-

the es250 was their "black sheep" flagship model- and one of the rarest models to find from lexus...

which is this car:

 

You deffinetly need to prep your car if you are taking it to MACCO. Sand it, primer it, and just let them do the paint. I got my civic painted by them last year, paid over $500 and they didnt even primer it or sand it, the paint looks like ****.

 

so....

my and my dad took the car to a local maaco and got 2 estimates-

1 estimate for paint/prep without any bodywork- which came to $450- ambassador paint job.

then we asked how much to re-do the body work I had done (which needs to be redone because the dents wern't sanded down to the metal- so with the same paint job and body work it came to $850...

they told me that if I do the body work and the prep/paint the car and bubbles and whatnot show up its not their fault.

I was going to get some aerosol epoxy primer and prime all of the dents after fixing them and sand the whole car down and let them paint it... I just dont know if that is a good idea?

I don't know what to do at this point, I feel that taking it there is going to just lead to trouble.

how much would a normal body shop charge to do body work and paint the car?

 

post pic of said car.

 

i got quoted 3000 from a local body shop to repaint my teg from adp to cw.

 

I hate when people hate on people who are taking a car to Maaco. Look how old the car is. A decent paint job will cost more than what that car is worth. Just take it there. You get what you pay for but why spend so much on a DD 18 year old car.

If you have a car you love or it is newer than yes you are stupid for taking it there. As to what primer to use I don't know.

 

The thing about maaco is they are franchises so it depends on what maaco you take it to for quality,but depending on what prep package you pick,and what paint package you pick also,you get different outcomes.But also if your wetsanding filler, your dumb, the primer will never burn into the filled area.