Earl Scheib's Paint job deals: any experience?

[sklim1]

Hey all,

I know, I know. They are not the best in paint job but they're cheap. I need to repaint my car before I sell it. Has anyone out there actually painted their cars there? Should I bother with them? Other cheap alternatives?

sklim1

[CptCroaker]

Earl Scheib paintjobs are exactly what you think they are.. cheap cheap paintjobs that don't last.. If your going to sell the car, and think its worth it, sure get it from them, but I wouldn't have them paint my own car...

[tsam]

Earl Scheib's paint jobs are worth crap. I had my car repainted 5 times and they still can't get it right. Thank god, I only paid for it once. They don't sand the car down, therefore the swirls appear after 6 months when the paint settles. Go to a real body shop!

[essm]

I bought a used Cutlass about 10 years ago with a visibly crap paint job, I knew it and didn't care, makes it less likely to be a stolen car in the future. Anyways, I found the receipt from Earl's and laughed my ass off (rather large one too) when I looked on the receipt. they have a box for returnign customer under the refered by section. who but a used car salesmen would go back to them?

[markus]

from above post:

"and laughed my ass off (rather large one too)"

---------------------
Don't be so self-conscious -- it's not that big!

(sorry, couldn't resist)

[Tarheeled]

One of my favorite jokes:

When you get your car painted at Earl Sheib, make sure the seats are dry before you drive away...

[johnnymk]

There used to be a place around here called Paintarama that did cheap paint jobs. I knew a guy who worked at one of them. Their idea of prepping a car before painting it was sanding an "X" on the hood , decklid, etc. Real professional job. If you have any body and fender skills, sand the car before you take it there, and you "may" have a paint job that will last longer than a year.

[Startide]

On usenet, there had been a number of very detailed articles on what to do prior to going in with a car to a cut-rate shop such as Earl Scheib, Maaco, (or other similar regional painter).

The successful advice included doing all the prep work, removing trim and bumper coverings (not to be painted), etcetera. Anyways, those articles would be much more detailed than my own commentary.

alt.coatings.paint
rec.autos.misc
rec.autos.tech

STARTIDE COMMENT: A custom car paint probably has a good chance to stick to your properly prepped and primed PC case. It would sure shine like the dickens with a 3-coat clear finish over, say, cayenne metallic red....

[plo]

you could probably get the same effect by using a paintbrush or can of spray paint...earl scheib is crap

[Startide]

Well, use of a compressed paint sprayer yields better results than if you used a spraycan or *shudder* a brush.

Scheib has a 10% off coupon special if you buy their Pro-2 or Pro-3 packages. Remember that they don't preclean your car well, so be sure all the dust is off right before the moment they spray.

Startide Comment: Because you don't get a paint booth with filtered air, you will want to have your car painted on a day with still air. If there is a windstorm in your city that day, well, expect dust to blow into their shop and give your freshly-painted car a gritty "non-slip" surface look...

Startide Comment: The shops DO vary in expertise. I've read comments from people who talked about one particular shop having people that cared whereas the others were all about money (volume business). I don't know how to separate them from each other.

General Comment: You may wish to visit more than one Scheib to see which ones look better. You may also visit Maaco type paint shops to see if they have a paint drying booth and how much they charge. A sealed paint-drying booth with filtered air is what you want.