For $1200 they did a great job. Let it cure for about 2 weeks, and wet sand and buff. It will look way better.

this doesn't look like shit it actually looks good, no one ever just walks up to a car and says this is a crappy paint job. I would pay for this kind of work, no joke

How could you think that the extra $300 from just painting the hood would include sanding down the whole car to perfection? Looks like a real good $1200 paint job to me. Yeah, there is orange peel all over the whole thing but you get what you pay for.

Wet sanding+ cut and buff should do the trick

Yes most definitely a wet sand cut and buff 100%!! I recommend just taking it to a very reputable detail shop and for maybe $400'ish or so they will make it look 97% better then it looks now to the point that it will look like it actually did get a show room paint job!

I really appreciate this honest review!!!!

$1200 looks good to me. $1,200 is a paint job that you want on a car that you’re tired of it looking like shit and want it to look somewhat decent. Macao definitely good for cars from like 2006 and under if it looks like junk. Edit: and cheap 2006 cars and under. A $5,000 car or less of value for a “refresh” on the car

You get what you pay for, the mask lines look good, the finish is uniform and remember some OEM paint jobs have orange peel not far from that. I would be thrilled if I picked up my car looking like that for $1200.

Looks great for 1200 bucks. Have it cut and polished. Also black is a difficult color to shoot.

Wet sand and buff it. That's orange peel. Kinda surprised guy didn't just say that.... Lol

Personally I think for the $1200 bill it looks pretty good. I’m contemplating getting my 04 Toyota Highlander repainted and I’d love to get those results. For your car, you might be able to get the finish smoother with some polishing compound and a good wax.

For $1200 it doesn't look bad at all

Thank you for the video my lincoln town car 2006 is in the state of the before condition just like your Mercedes i have a appointment to have a 1200 paint job done here by home in Las Vegas NV and just looking to see how a priced paint job comes out like that...your video is very informative thank you bro.

Cut and huff the orange peel, still a good paint job just need to finish it off.

Before you wet sand you better find out if they did a basecoat clearcoat or a single stage... wet sanding a single can be tricky.. and if it's basecoat clearcoat you'd better find out how much clear they used🤔

I wouldn’t mind that finish, just some cutting and buffing would make it look like it’s right out the factory

Sand wet with 2000 then 3000 compound polish and wax 3days of work to finish it. Use Maguire . For the headlights use 3m add a grade of sanding.

I did the same thing I bought a quart of paint and some wax and grease remover from maaco thinking I was going to get a $5,000 paint job and it wasn't that at all but thanks for sharing I learned the lesson the hard way to

I'm sure that everyone else has already told you this but that textured feeling on the surface is known as orange peel. If you take it to any detailer you can ask him/her to do a cut and buff then it should fix that and make the car look amazing. I would recommend a ceramic coating while you're at it.

You could buff the orange peel out. Get it wet sanded, and then ceramic coated.

I usually just replace body panels with factory painted panels out of a salvage yard instead of a cheap paint job. You can get rid of the orange peel with a buffing.

Looks like my 2019 jetta's oem paint. And i love it i might actually go with maaco to change the color

You have to understand that Hoovie is a recognized KZfaqr with over a million subs---Maaco knew that, and knew the car would be displayed on his channel. So of course, they're going to go all-out to make sure the paint looks good, it would be bad press if it didn't

When you sell a car completely repainted, many people think it has been in a bad wreck. Myself, I would have painted the hood and fenders, wet sanded the right side doors, and would have tried a paint scratch kit on the long scratch, then wet sanded and buffed. Let the paint cure a little longer then try some 1500 to 2000 grit wet sanding followed by a high-speed rotary polisher with a good compound. Good luck.

There's an old mechanic's saying: You get to choose: fast, cheap and good (pick any two). You can get cheap and fast, but it won't be good. There's just no way a $1200 paint job can be good. One mistake you made was just making the decision to choose a paint shop based on price, and in the automotive paint world, cheaper is not better. Being in the trade myself, I know how much time/effort/materials it takes to make a car come out correctly. Hoovie didn't get the $1200 paint job, he paid around $4000 for his. Judging by the amount of orange peel on your finish, for what you paid, the painter had no clue what he was doing and was probably very inexperienced. Watch a guy on youtube called "The Gunman" and you can see what a quality paint job is right off the gun (no buffing needed). For how little you paid, they did the absolute minimum to get the car through and probably didn't properly clean/scuff/sand the surface fully (probably missed certain spots and edges/corners) and your paint will start flaking off soon enough.

Looks good! What do you expect for 1200?

When you don't even know to call the "textured" paint orange peel, I don't k ow if this guy is qualified to determine what a $1200 paint job should cost.

Looks pretty good for $1200 lol, I would get a nice detail over that and see if that helps remove the "orange peel".

Looks great. Orange peel expected if not wet sanded. Maaco offers color wet sand for extra and definitely worth it on Mercedes 040 black. Would have let them keep it another week to finish.

Black is beautiful! Yet it is by far the most difficult color to paint! Lots of work to make it mirror like! 2 stage clearcoat, wet sand and lots of buffing!

At Macco they seal your car and they only use 2 quarts of paint, so the roof and all the flat parts of your car come out wet looking and they dry spray the sides which gives it the orange peel effect

This makes me happy ! We own a body shop and I’ll I have to say is you get what you pay for boom!!!

I know most folks are not aware that a good paint job on a car can be pretty pricey. Especially people from my generation, and older. I retired last year. I come from the old days where an Earl Schieb paint job was $49.95. That was his schtick - "I'm Earl Scheib, and I'll paint any car, any color for $49.95". That was the price when I started driving. The problem now is that painting cars has changed so much over the years that you can't even get a wheel painted for that. The process has changed, and the materials have changed. Definitely for the good, I might add. Even if it costs more, the materials are better. Even over just the past 10 to 20 years or so. So now people are shocked when they see how much a paint job cost. I'm lucky as I found out how things have changed by a friend who was in the business. I have heard that if you are looking for a very good paint job expect to pay $4k or more. For showroom paint jobs $10k and up.

black will orange peel, you would need to wet sand to remove that. The factory uses an electrostatic machine to paint which gives it that smooth hard shell look.

I would have asked them to spray another coat of clearcoat on. That may have reduced the amount of orange peel, and given you a bigger margin of error if you decide to go through the trouble of wet sanding. Plus it would just look that much better.

That grainny texture is called orange peel, it needs a good 800 to 1000 sand then buffed and then recoat on the clear.

Looks good for a grand most paint shops would just scuff and shoot like they did to yours. If you wanted it down to bare metal body filled primed base and clear expect to pay more than 10 times what you paid

The texture you see on the paint is orange peel you can simply remove that by wet sanding and buffing

Orange Peel texture can be buffed out. Most people take it to Maaco to get a cheap paint job and then take it to a high end detail shop and have it buffed, polished, waxed and then sealed. In the long run saving you a few bucks. But yah you pay for what you get at 1 stop Maaco's basic plans. They're the drive through-ish paint shops. But like i said, after getting it painted there for a cheap price, go hand it over to professional detailers and you be happy.

I know it's an old post, but did you ever get the paint cut? (Sanding down the orange peel) I've done a few Macco jobs and I always include an extra $600-800 for a detail shop to cut the clear coat down for me. Always looks very nice after that 2nd step.

I don’t know where you took your car , I have little 2013 Mercedes GLK 350 and Macco estimated $3,000 to paint it …

The car needs to be cut and buffed. Wet sand and polish it. I had really good results getting single stage polyurethane from Maaco, but I also sanded, primed and sealed the car myself. Prep is key to any paint job. Cut and buff and it will look way better.

they should have wet sanded and polished for 1200 bucks. they cut corners. 1200 bucks is no small change

That's actually pretty good $1200... here's something in comparison the new AC compressor for your car will cost about $1400 to get installed properly And I'm giving you a price estimate on a cheaper vehicle on a Mercedes I'm sure it's even more money to replace your compressor.. My car is about the same size and I just got the top tier They gave me an estimate of $2400 and that's pretty good other places want to charge even more... But yeah I'm going with the best maybe next year I'll do it...

Man, it's really a game of roulette with Maaco locations- with regards to quality of work, isn't it? I'd be equally disappointed with that textured finish. Thanks for posting this cautionary tale- sorry you had that experience! Take care!

That paint look better than most NEW cars at the dealership. Take a look a new FORD truck and see how rough it looks! No one will notice that really just buff it out.

Your solution you've already hit its wet sanding. It has to be done after priming and it has to be done again after color spray.

The tops look good cuz the clear lays flat the sides is harder to to get flat the 900 dollar price was for the paint work to be done correctly the 1200 was for a quick scuff and paint. their is a big price different between a proper repair and a cheap paint job

Same problem! $4k for the car to be painted and it's loaded with dry and orange peel. My dash was covered in primer along with the steering wheel and switches. Rims and tires covered in primer and dried up Bondo. Trash in the paint in different areas. Yeah I would say was it worth it!

Im doing a black 2000 Mercedes C-320 Kompressor that was keyed badly and i took it down to the metal everywhere except the roof and ive worked on this car a solid week! i hve 3 places of bodywork , i dont know how they can do it so cheap ive got 500 dollars just in paint and clear and primer and ive worked 6 to 7 hours a day on it Its a LOT of work and oh my god the dust! its EVERYWHERE even doing it outside!

take it to a detailer for paint correction. they can wet sand most of that out.

That car looks great, IMO!!

Hey! If you cut buff and polish I bet this paint would look damn good

Just wet sand the orange peel off and it will look awesome. I'd be happy with that paint job

This car was done At a Maaco Facility in Addison, Texas but i can tell by the Video but location is closed down for good now.

That is a paint job from an inexperienced painter. It looks like he or she painted it with the gun a foot away. Macco is not a factory, just depends on who's pulling the trigger

Do you shop for Gucci at Walmart?? Because what you spend towards your luxury items seems a little odd to me.

you need to wet sand with like 1200 grit then buff it wit correcting compund. it eill look 100. what your seeing is called orange peel

Looks good to me. I’m gonna take my 2008 Chrysler mini van (I rarely wash or wax it) to Maaco for the $1000 job. If it ends up looking that good I’ll be very happy. You went cheap on a Benz dude, lmao.

I'd love to see it now

What you have there, my guy, is what we call here in L.A. is "Orange peels" after Maaco's paint job!! I went through that same "exact" issue, when I picked up my TownCar here from a shop in Gardena a few years ago. And I had purchased their "top of the line" ($2K - $2500) paint job through insurance, after my car was hit. But like myself, Maaco did not inform you that they "do not" buff or color sand your car after their paint job on peoples cars!! I was so mad that they did not inform me of this "before" hand, that I almost went to jail for knocking a couple of those characters out there !!! I went to a couple of other auto body shops & found a guy here who buffed & color sanded my complete car for $300 ...... and the difference was like day & night !! Never will "I" go to another Maaco again!!!! My car now has that GLASS look that I wanted from the beginning, and every where I go people give me complements on it, & inquire about where I got my car painted at. I have to inform them that it's not the paint, it's the follow up afterwards 😁😁!!! I Hope this info. helps you there. Good luck ......

I had the roof panel of my Mercedes SLK 320 repainted and paid $300 USD. It came out looking factory original. This was done by a private party paint shop with 20 years experience. This is what you should be looking for not a MAACO. I found this shop by going to a few used car lots and asking the owners were they get their body work done.

U just need to have the orange peel polished. Thats standard procedure at regular paint shops

Couldn’t you wet sand it and buff?

Maaco paint jobs are cheap, but unfortunately you get what you pay for. The orange peel effects you have on the sides might be able to be buffed out by a good detailer. It's a 20-footer, but it still looks nice considering what you have into it.

I am sorry my friend! That was not good, even by Maaco standards. I do not ever recall seeing that much orange peel. But most of the paint I've seen them do is single stage polyurethane . Do you or anyone that you know have experience with sanding clear and doing a multistage compounding and polishing? You could watch YT videos on how to do it but i'd practice on a junkyard hood so you can make mistakes on it instead and know what to avoid. But orange peel is mostly caused by one or more issues during the clearcoat application. That is what you are seeing the most. WOW that's a lot of peel! The good news is you can fix a good amount of that. I wish you blessings!

Thing is you never told us which package it was? Was this the base with "integrated" clear coat? Or separate base and then clear coat? It matters. They will cut and buff (wetsand) orange peel but it's another $2k.

You know, it all depends on how OCD you are with how the car looks and I get it..personally, if you drive an old car like this, this paint job is excellent!

It’s just orange pill. All you need to do is wet sand it and it will be a lot better when you get done.

You need to color sand and buff and it will look so much better

For $1000, this looks good. I would be satisfied with this for that price. As I have said previously, if I wanted my automotive painted to showroom condition, Maaco is not where I would take it. I have personally never had an automotive that I desired to do that with.

You my friend, get what you paid for.

That’s actually a really good paint job, you just need to have it wet sanded and polished and that will be under a grand and it will look 90% better

What you have is orange peel. that has nothing to do with the surface. it’s the way they sprayed it, but it can be fixed sanded and polished out as long as there’s enough clear on it. The reason the side panels have it more than the hood is because of gravity. The weight of the paint if you put it on too heavy, will create that I’m with you though I would not have been happy seeing those results.

You just need to get it buff. Wet sand 1200 grit buff with shine. Spend some money to get it buff

A good thing to do is to have your car painted orange.... then you can tell everyone that the "orange peel" finish was planned from the beginning. Then you would look like a cool trend-setter.

If I could get that reasonably descent paint job on my 76 VW Bus camper id be pretty happy.Not exactly sure what he's so unhappy with. Orange peel can be seen on a lot of new cars.

If you look at the new GM truck you will also see orange 🍊 peak. I saw this the other day and I had to laugh.

looks good to me

It was new paint job, it just needed a wet sand and buff, most higher end shops would do that. Once u do that (which i hope you did by now) you will see how good it actually is.

When it comes to MAACO, you have to use the the $1000/15 foot rule: At 15 feet, a $1000 paint job looks good; to look good at 14 feet, fork over $2000. Want it to look good from one foot away, cough up $15,000. Easy!!

Yep, I agree with the commenters. Your logic doesn't really make a lot of sense. Your car isn't ruined and I certainly wouldn't have ANYONE strip paint down to "bare metal" and lose that factory priming. You have an additional $1,300+ to where a "better" paint job from them would've been and I'm not sure that would necessarily be worth it. Take it to a body shop and have them spend some labor on it. It'll come out perfectly and then you can look into ceramic jobs as well.

I had been checking out Maaco since all the so called " pro shops" here can't paint a car for stoogatz. Went there and saw a beautiful F150 they just detailed after doing the Premium level paint job. Took my Lincoln back for the estimate and told him I want it to look like that F150 but in the factory Lincoln color. Other guys quoted me anywhere from 4 grand up to 8. But good luck on that because they'll never have time for you with all the collision work they get here. I'm waiting 6 months right now for a guy to give me an appointment.......like I really expect to hear from him. Anyhow, Maaco told me to fix every scratch and ding, basecoat and clearcoat, color sand and buff would cost me $2700 and they had an opening three weeks from now.Of the $2700, $600 was surface preperation. I could have gotten away with $1900 if I dropped the surface prep. I was like......"Can I pay now?" The F150 looked insane.........not a swirl mark on it and smooth as glass. Maaco gets a bad rap at times which I understand. But I tell guys that their Maaco is not mine as they are a franchise

Do they do body work and pull dents

That is called orange peel and you can wet sand that out without ruining the shine and paint job.

The guy may have given you the wrong expectation, but I think it looks reasonable for a $1000 paint job. I have an 06 Corolla that runs great but looks awful. I’m on the lookout for a sub $1k paint job and thought about Maacco.

Orange peel may be able to be wet sanded and buffed. However 1200$ for a repaint not bad at all.

Depending on how much clearnis on the car, you can cut and buff it. It will look better. $1200.00 will not get a stripped and painted car. Even 3K for that would be a stretch today.

Asking a lot for 1000 or 1200 for some orange peal, Looks good. I know I will give them a chance for that Money, maybe the 2500 dollar upgrade.

Love the car I wouldn’t be embarrassed on a date with a guy driving this car

What your seeing is orange peal. For 1200$ they are not going to color sand and buff it out. you can have that done, assuming they sprayed enough clear on it. For 1200$ they dont remove door locks, mirrors, hood handles, tail lights, head lights etc. why do you think paint good paint jobs cost 10-20k$ ?

A decent quality pant job on that car would be around 6000. For 1200 bucks, this pretty good.

I have a question did maaco give you a written estimate or a verbal estimate?

What they do is sand the car down and seal it, which is absolutely the proper way to do it. But they seal it so they could paint the car with two Quarts of paint. You need to sand your car with 1500 grit and wheel it out

I love these guys driving these older Mercedes who can not afford to keep them up properly. A good paint job to this guys standard would be minimum 3,500- 4,500. This type works takes many hours. A good paint job could take 80 hours. Stay away from Maaco if you are picky in any way. I can paint a car in my back yard paint booth better than that. Needs to be cut and buffed. You will always get orange peel without cut and buffing afterwards.

Its not shit...it will buff out nicely..im still gonna go with maaco honestly

You should sand down the paint. What you have is called orange peel. Not a big deal my dude. Also update us when you sand it down

Had a horrible experience with macco on a 1998 mustang gt

Color send and buff that's orange peel from the clear coat

polish time!