Not perfect. Some small specs under the paint,but a great shine and no runs.
Total cost for a two color job 1,000.00.

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Looks pretty good from here, it'd be nice to see how it holds up. I owned a W123 that had been painted by them and it was okay.

PS Here, I fixed your license plate.

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Remember, Safety Third!
'99 E300 Turbodiesel, '82 300TD, 1996 12V Cummins Turbo, '94 Neoplan - Detroit 6V92TA

How the hell did you do that?

Short answer: The Gimp GIMP - The GNU Image Manipulation Program

Long answer:

1. Download your photo.
2. Google "Georgia License Plate"
3. Select an image. (The one I used came from here.)
4. Open car image in GIMP.
5. Open new plate image in GIMP. ctrl-a, ctrl-c (select all, copy)
6. Paste into car image as a new layer.
7. Use "perspective" tool to align & scale new plate over old plate.
8. Touch up a bit with eraser tool.
9. Save & upload.

Took less than five minutes. I wanted to find "BR-549" and put that on there, but not badly enough to spend a lot of time on it.

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Remember, Safety Third!
'99 E300 Turbodiesel, '82 300TD, 1996 12V Cummins Turbo, '94 Neoplan - Detroit 6V92TA

That looks great! I've been wondering if I should take my car to them soon. Seen the local Maaco's work on a classmate's Le Sabre too. Not bad!

Thanks for posting this.

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1983 300TD 240k Thistle Green Auto (Euro) [sold]
1984 300D 240k Petrol Green Auto
覧覧覧覧覧覧覧覧覧
"You know, times are changing. Ladies can do stuff now and you're going to have to learn how to deal with it."
"What? Were you saying something? Look, I don't speak Spanish."

I believe that MAACO can do great work, you just have to spend a bit more on their work and find a location that has great reviews.

I think in the future I will take my 300D to a MAACO, I just need to do a little bit of body work .

Black is very, very hard to paint and look nice.
They must have some skilled preppers and painters.
Years ago i used to have Maaco paint cars I wanted to resell.
It only cost about $240. for a single stage one color metallic; I did my own body work. It would be done in a day.

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"Our Lady of Blessed Acceleration...
don't Fail Us Now"

The car was originally beige and I thought I repaired all of the small dents until it was painted black.I have found at least 5 small dents that I missed.
BUMMER

Black shows every flaw.

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Remember, Safety Third!
'99 E300 Turbodiesel, '82 300TD, 1996 12V Cummins Turbo, '94 Neoplan - Detroit 6V92TA

The material cost alone for good quality paint can run more than $2k.
Think about the quality and longevity of the paint used at these production shops after backing out the shop profit and labor from the price.

I've seen lots of these jobs that look great when finished, but the paint flattens out after a few years and no amount of work will bring back the shine.

It all depends on what you want. I will be the first to admit that it does not make sense to invest more in paint than the car is worth...

Jim

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14 E250 BlueTEC black. 45k miles
95 E320 Cabriolet Emerald green 66k miles
94 E320 Cabriolet Emerald green 152k miles
85 300TD 4 spd man, euro bumpers and lights, 15" Pentas dark blue 274k miles

I've used Macco many times over the years. It's all in the prep work and what you use to care for the paint. If it's left outside all the time, the paint will fail in about 5 years. But, if you use protective waxes, and it's kept in the garage, washed once a week, etc., it should last you longer.

I used to use Earl Sheib for the cars that I wanted to sell quick. However, I once had a car painted with paint that I provided, and they did a pretty good job of laying it down. That paint is still looking good...I sold the car to my nephew, and he's still driving it.

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1987 560SL
85,000 miles

X2 except the part about looking great... maybe good from far, but far from good...

Maaco provides a cheap service, not an inexpensive one.
It would drive me crazy to drive a car which had all the trim taped for painting, rather than removed. There is no way the edges will hold up over time.

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On some nights I still believe that a car with the fuel gauge on empty can run about fifty more miles if you have the right music very loud on the radio. - HST

1983 300SD - 305000
1984 Toyota Landcruiser - 190000
1994 GMC Jimmy - 203000

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That's where proper prep work comes in. If you do all the prep work, removing of trim, sanding, etc., and give them a good base to spray, the end result is great. Not only that, they won't charge you for that prep work, making the job that much less in cost.

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1987 560SL
85,000 miles

at that point, it's time to paint it yourself. with real paint.

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On some nights I still believe that a car with the fuel gauge on empty can run about fifty more miles if you have the right music very loud on the radio. - HST

1983 300SD - 305000
1984 Toyota Landcruiser - 190000
1994 GMC Jimmy - 203000

https://media.giphy.com/media/X3nnss8PAj5aU/giphy.gif

They fill a very useful niche. And you can pay for a super trim all off service, or a 500 buck respray. Basically, you get what you pay for, and they don't BS you on their service. For the 500 dollar job, they sand the car on a timer.

I have a 2 year old maaco job on my van, and its got some issue areas, and is dull now, but for 500 bucks, the van went from a mish mash of colors and parts, to professional looking. Still looks fairly professional, and I have done zero to maintain the paint. If it lasts 5 years before being unseemly, I figure 100 bucks a year is a pretty decent business expense for looking professional.

Additionally, I was literally turned down on multiple paint places, they wouldn't even touch the van because it had a few dozen small dents, ect, other blemishes. It was pretty irritating. Maaco painted the thing no questions asked, dents and all, which was a real pleasure

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