Complaint Review: Maaco Clive IA - Clive Iowa

In May 2013, we brought in a 2006 Nissan Maxima that was a previous salvage title for front end damage, but that repair work was already complete.  We needed a new back bumper, an area of rust removed and repaired over the wheel well on the driver's side, and some chips sanded out on the front hood, followed by a complete paint job.  We went in on a Saturday and talked to Pat (who was enjoying a beer while we were there - completely unprofessional).  We were told it would take one week to complete all repairs.  My husband and I were both there at this first consult  Total cost would be $2,080.  This is my son's first car and he wanted to drive it to school so we stressed with Pat that we needed the car complete in one week.  She told us that would not be a problem.

One week came and went with no word from Maaco.  I went into the shop over my lunch with a coworker on a Friday and found it unpainted.  They assured me it would be painted that day and we could pick it up the following Monday.  The following Monday came and went with no word from Maaco.  We called several times and finally were able to pick the car up two days later.

The paint job was not as nice as I was expecting for what we paid, but for a first car for my son, we figured it was "okay."  There were a few spots of running paint and two small paint bubbles on the rear passenger side.  The customer service on Maaco's part was shotty at best (no returned phone calls, broken promises on completion time, etc.)

Now 6 months later, we have two growing bubbled paint spots on the rear of the vehicle (near the area where they removed the rust) and a raised crack in the paint on the hood.  We noticed the paint bubbles not long after we got the car back but they were small and we figured it was more of the half-a*s paint job we received.  They have gotten worse in time, and when the crack showed up on the hood (I thought it was brought on by the colder Iowa weather), we decided to take the car back in.  My husband and I took the vehicle back to Maaco on 11/16 and spoke with Pat and Tim.  They both came out and looked over the vehicle and then Tim told us it would cost us to get it repaired - that neither area was covered under the warranty.  This vehicle was painted less than 6 months ago and it's not covered?!

It gets better. Tim then tells us the hood crack in the paint is probably caused by bondo underneath and the only way he could tell was to scratch it with his pocket knife (which he took out of his pocket, to scratch our car).  I told him he absolutely was NOT going to scratch the car.  He then instructed us to commit insurance fraud saying, "What you can do is make a claim on your insurance policy, just say that some metal piece came flipping up while you were driving and hit your hood."  I told him we would absolutely NOT be making an insurance claim.  I asked him if there was bondo underneath there, wouldn't that have been THEIR job to do whatever needed to be done prior to the paint job?  He said no.

He then looked at the two paint bubbles on the passenger side and said those areas are rust coming through.  Again, wouldn't they have noticed this was an area of concern PRIOR to painting the vehicle?  Once again, he accepted NO RESPONSIBILITY and said that fix alone would cost $350 to repair.  I told him he wasn't getting another penny from us and we left.

If a car is stripped down to be painted, aren't any and all areas supposed to be "cleaned up" prior to painting in order to not have these issues a mere 6 months later?  What is the point of us getting our car painted if it's just going to crack and chip and bubble up?  Not to mention to the tune of $2,080!  I'm beyond angry and feel Clive MAACO needs to make this right.  At this point, I will be getting second and third opinions and they can pay for the repairs.

I will NEVER do business with this place again.