paint for 4runner

I was thinking of painting my 4runner. Does anybody know anybody know how a place like Macco charges. I have a 97' and I was thinking of going Jet black, but, what other colors, besides factory do you guys think look good. Pics would be great

I was thinking of painting my 4runner. Does anybody know anybody know how a place like Macco charges. I have a 97' and I was thinking of going Jet black, but, what other colors, besides factory do you guys think look good. Pics would be great


I would not recommend black with Macco. The paint they use only lasts for 2-3 years. Something i heard to do with the hardner plus black shows all imperfections. Toyota green looks good on runners and hides more dirt.

They should charge around $300-$400 for a paint job. Again it will look good for 6 months then the clearcoat goes away. However, a nice paint job will run you $800-$1000 so you have to decide how long you will have it. I have had three cars painted at Macco and have never been thrilled with the outcome but they are very inexpensive compared to professional painters.

What does Maaco do differently than a competent body shop?

What does Maaco do differently than a competent body shop?


It's not that they are incompetent it is only the quality is not there, hence the price is lower. A quality paint job will give you a mirror finish. There finish is a dull shine. A painter told me the finish is all in the prep work and even though they charge for extra prep work the finish product is not as nice. In other words they mass produce paint jobs.
Macco paint is ok for the price, just you may be expecting more as I have in the past and have been somewhat dissapointed. We always expect more than we get these days though. A sign of the times we live in. hardly anyone takes pride in their work anymore unless you are willing to pay a premium for it and then there are no guarantees.

Maaco is the entry level for beginning painters. And with paint jobs it is almost ALL in the prep. They will usually ONLY rough up the surface for paint, whereas a compentent body shop will sand it for 1-2 days finishing with a wet sand and a couple of coats of primer w/wet sand. Quality paint helps alot too...

You can't get a good paint job for less than $1000 unless you do all the prep work. The paint and primer cost $500 alone. Factory paint jobs are pretty good, but a really good, show quality job will cost $2000-$5000.

If the body is good and the existing paint doesn't need to be stripped you can usually get a good paint job with a 5 year warrenty from Maaco, etc for a grand.

A friend of mine got his 72 Ford Maverick painted for $150 at Earl Schieb. They painted over all the rust and got overspray on all the chrome.

A friend of mine got his 72 Ford Maverick painted for $150 at Earl Schieb. They painted over all the rust and got overspray on all the chrome.

hell, i could've painted over the rust and chrome for half that and a 6 pack of corona's...but i would've need the coronas as down payment....

I had an '88 VW Fox painted at Earl Sheibs about 10 years ago and when I got it back there was impressions of the techs pants on the sides of the car where he leaned into the paint while it was still wet. About a month later I took it through a touchless car wash at a gas station and it took chunks of paint off. They also oversprayed my tires and I watched them literally spray paint the sidewalls black again. Now that's quality work.