Paint the car or no? (pics)

[Jonnyswboy]

Looking for any body/paint people to give me some advice.

I have a 2010 Mazda 6 with 95,000 miles (purchased at 60k) and after my subwoofer build I will have about $15,000 total into it.

It has several paint imperfections that annoy me as well as some rust on the body panels that will only get worse. $15k is a lot to me so I would really like it to be clean on the outside. I am thinking about taking it to Maaco and having the whole thing painted. My preliminary quote is $900-1500 but they have a $699 deal that I might be able to get. Not sure if it's worth it being 1/7th the value of the car on a good day.

Wondering if it would be a better idea to just do spot repairs on the rust areas.

Thoughts?

Pics don't really show every imperfection:

Spoiler

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[Kickstand Premium Member]

Uh, oh better get Maaco
I haven't seen one of those commercials since I lived back east.
For $699 all they are going to do is tape the car off and spray it.
That would only work if you prepped the car before you brought it in
It's not that hard to do bondo work its just really time consuming and dusty

Don't just spot fix the rust spots
The car is old enough that you have to either know how to blend the new paint with the old or paint the whole car.
Covering up some rust spots is a little more difficult than it sounds like

 

[Popwarhomie 5,000+ posts]

No way I would do a Maaco paint job. I would personally get it wrapped.

 

[Jonnyswboy]

Uh, oh better get Maaco
I haven't seen one of those commercials since I lived back east.
For $699 all they are going to do is tape the car off and spray it.
That would only work if you prepped the car before you brought it in
It's not that hard to do bondo work its just really time consuming and dusty

Don't just spot fix the rust spots
The car is old enough that you have to either know how to blend the new paint with the old or paint the whole car.
Covering up some rust spots is a little more difficult than it sounds like

If I did learn or pay someone to blend the paint, this might be a good option?

No way I would do a Maaco paint job. I would personally get it wrapped.

$2k+ is pretty steep for me. You really think that it's worth for a car worth ~$7-8k?

 

[Popwarhomie 5,000+ posts]

$2k+ is pretty steep for me. You really think that it's worth for a car worth ~$7-8k?

No but I wouldn't even bother painting it either if it were mine. A good buff and it would look alot better.

 

[AnthonyO 10+ year member]

Dip it yourself. www.dipyourcar.com

 

[Clifff150 10+ year member]

I’m going through the same process with my truck. Roof has some rust issues due to channels that hold water (thanks Ford). I also have some fading going on that is getting worse by the day. I will be having my body shop buddy do the work.

Do not get a Maaco job unless it’s a last resort. They only Tape/mask (poorly at that) and use the shittiest paint and technique.

Wrapping is great but pricey. I would for sure fix the rust spots regardless as it will just get worse and worse. Pop is right about a good buff/polish and keep the paint protected from here on out to prevent more issues.

 

[Jonnyswboy]

Dip it yourself. www.dipyourcar.com

This is really interesting to me. Seems like your average Joe can do this with the kit with enough time spent on prep. Not too pricey either.

 

[SlugButter]

My cheap boss used to have us sand and body fill the snow plow trucks before taking them to Maaco every summer. They were horrible. They wouldn’t even powerwash before painting if we didn’t do it. They would paint right over dirt and ice melt stuck to the trucks.

 

[AnthonyO 10+ year member]

This is really interesting to me. Seems like your average Joe can do this with the kit with enough time spent on prep. Not too pricey either.

Theres really no prep. Just wash and dry the car. Then spray the plasti dip. I would fix the rust, spray with rust inhibitor, primer, and then lay a coat of plasti dip over it.

Now when I have done grills in the past that has rock chips or bubbled chrome, I have sanded them smooth. Primered and then plasti dipped. Its not needed, but thats just me.

 

[Popwarhomie 5,000+ posts]

There is still tons of prep work to do when plastidipping a car. If it doesn't stick in one small area it will ruin it. You have to be very delicate if you ever wash it. It will never look glossy even if you use glossifier. If you spray it too thin it is hell to peel off. It's more expensive than you would think and it fades.

 

[Jonnyswboy]

There is still tons of prep work to do when plastidipping a car. If it doesn't stick in one small area it will ruin it. You have to be very delicate if you ever wash it. It will never look glossy even if you use glossifier. If you spray it too thin it is hell to peel off. It's more expensive than you would think and it fades.

The matte black kit is $500 with a sprayer, which is perfectly reasonable imo. Everything I've read says that you can take it through a car wash a few weeks after it's sprayed or use a power washer on it. Having a hard time thinking of a reason not to try it.

 

[Kickstand Premium Member]

Don't ever paint your car with anything that comes out of an aerosol can.
Clay bar, compounding and waxing will do a way better job.
If your going to do it yourself you need a big compressor (50 gallon +), spray gun and something lacquer based at the very least.
I used this to paint the fiberglass pods I just made for my front doors and I am really impressed with the finish
https://www.duplicolor.com/product/paint-shop-automotive-lacquer-finish-system/

 

[Jonnyswboy]

Don't ever paint your car with anything that comes out of an aerosol can.
Clay bar, compounding and waxing will do a way better job.
If your going to do it yourself you need a big compressor (50 gallon +), spray gun and something lacquer based at the very least.
I used this to paint the fiberglass pods I just made for my front doors and I am really impressed with the finish
https://www.duplicolor.com/product/paint-shop-automotive-lacquer-finish-system/

DYC DipSprayer™ System

DYC DipSprayer™ System. World's first sprayer system specifically designed to spray Plasti Dip®. This system was designed from the ground up by DipYourCar.com with the backing of Earlex®. Advancements and enhancements were made to the system to provide a better user experience, and smoother...

www.dipyourcar.com

 

[audiobaun 5,000+ posts]

For a vehicle that old. Its prob. not worth it at this time to get it painted unless you intend to keep it for a long period of time. Deff. have to give attention to the rusted areas and get those taken care of before they get any worse. Id use fiberglass kit to take care of the imperfections rather than Bondo. Primer and seal those spots, and I myself would try Plasti Dip. There are quite a few that just Rino Line the outside and under\neath also around this state. Some look really good