04' Doublecab Color Change!

I'm waiting on my new tailgate to show up, then sending the old girl off for a respray. I'm going to get the primo job from Maaco, changing over to Spruce Mica which is my favorite toyota color ever.

That being said, aside from any comments like "Maaco sucks!" does anyone have any advice on things to ask, look out for, or plan for when going through this process?

For those curious, the service is the top option with the performance prep and 2 stage with clear coat. It will cost be about $2200 all told.

 

Those two words are contradictory at least for their single stage paint jobs.

Jokes aside, maybe their warranty on the work and some examples of the work they've done and if they blend it in with the rear quarter panels or are you talking about painting the entire truck?

I'd probably ask if they pull all the plastic trim off before painting or if they just mask it off so I know what to expect.

 

Couple of things.

Maaco does (or at least used to) allow you to add as many clear coats as you want, which (used to) be in the ballpark of $350-450 per added clear. If you really want a deep finish, consider tossing the extra change on it.

Also know, the biggest fuck-up most people make when switching colors is this: They forget about the door jambs and engine bay. Nothing is going to make your spruce color look like shit more than when (1) you pop the hood, and the firewall, the radiator support, the underside of the hood, cowl, and everything else is still red, or (2) they open the doors and the interior door parts are red because you didn't pay the extra for them to do the jambs.

Since it's Maaco, I'll predict two additional things: They won't bother to pop off the bed, which means the entire back wall of the truck will be red forever, on the cab and bed, and they probably won't bother popping off the plastics on the bed, or they won't bother dropping the tailgate, so they'll miss those spots to. Don't expect them to properly mask door jamb stickers, under-hood stuff or anything else.

If I were you, I would make a choice: Either don't color-change, or don't do Maaco. The second you do both, you're setting yourself up for annoying failure, and once that clearcoat is on, it's not like you can just go and spray a little filler here or there.

Maybe I'll be wrong here, I'm giving this to you after my two bad experiences w/them and countless other experiences I've read / seen with color changes, some way less radical than what you're envisoning.

 

As an owner of a Salsa red pearl 2004 double cab tundra…I wear my sunburnt faded, rock chipped paint, with extreme pride. I’m not worried to drive down brush trails or leave her dirty for a few weeks. Just maintain it as is and do touch up, resprays myself. Plan on redoing the clear coat on the roof this spring. Can’t look worse than it does now!

This is what makes ME happy, you do you.

I went down this road, I got a quote, truck would be completely disassembled and the paint job came with a “lifetime warranty”. it was $10k. The paint alone was gonna be $6k.
(At the time, 3ish years ago) That just some info to have, not compare to what you got a quote on from macco as I asked for a quote on back to factory original.

 

This is a door off, jamb paint, full pull apart job. 5 year warranty which im happy with. The craftsmanship will be the key indicator for me and if there are any glaring areas of issue, i will certainly confirm with them before the job begins on my ability to request a fix. Good looks!

 

That's a really good point about the cab back. I will ask them if that's something they will be able to do. As far as under the hood, Im not too concerned there as im not going to try to hide the fact that the color is changed and I'm only popping the hood occassionally, but they are going to do the door jambs.

 

Good or bad, be sure to share the end result

 

i feel attacked by the engine bay comment... but i left mine phantom grey. its not that drastic of a difference from cement. i did have the jambs done though

 

Hopefully, the work will be done well. I know they CAN do good work when it comes to insurance claims rather than el cheapo paint jobs. I haven't heard anything about their primo paint job so I am curious. Please report back on how well they do if you're able.

 

@Needward What's wrong with Salsa Pearl Red?? Are you tooooo good for that color, huh!?

 

I can't speak for Maaco. My brother got a "deal" bringing two cars at once into Earl Sheib(spell check). The paint jobs were super cheap. No prep work seemed to happen, there was a lot of overspray in odd places, and his SC400 which had dual exhaust got one muffler painted to match the car. He did get his cars back in 3 days though. I guess for what he paid that's great. For something like a project car or a street beater that's a good way to go.

I'd say don't go in with high expectations. Maaco hopefully is better.

 

It isn't too bad if the colors are in the same family so to speak. If its essentially a lighter or darker version of the same color it isn't nearly as much an eyesore as seeing two colors on opposite ends of the color wheel. Red and green being complimentary colors will stick out.

 

I think I dated her sister a few years ago

 

I like it! I've had it for so long, and i need to repaint it anyways, but I'm unreasonably drawn to the Spruce Green. I feel compelled. If there was a wrap that was Spruce i'd do that, but to have a color matched wrap is way more expensive than paint!

I think having a classic toyota color on something it wasn't an option on is pretty cool.

 

I totally understand! Do you!

I would have loved to change the color of my truck to Silver, Charcoal or Black. I chose not to because I would've wanted the truck stripped completely, cab off and the hole 9 yards to not see the original color and I wasn't ready to pay for all that.

Make sure you show us pictures when she's done.

 

@2006Tundra you could always buy this! AC though, not DC:

 

For todays markets, that's a great price.

 

Tons of super rust-free southern-only trucks in the 140k-300k mile range here in ATL under $12-14K, many of them are in the 4-digit price range.

 

I used maco once, here's what I noted...
1- if you want all the areas painted, pull everything off yourself! They left my rear license plate on, never painted behind it.
2- Pull all your lights off... poor masking job which I noticed every day until I sold the car!
3- As Shifty noted, jambs were not done, engine compartment either, but I would have needed to pull the engine to get that done.
4- The price was cheap, I figured out why after the fact!

Personally I would go with the same color repaint, that's going to avoid MANY issues, or find a real paint shop, going to cost more, but ya gets whats ya pays for!
But, that being said, it's your truck, Good Luck!!

 

Hmm. Super cheap for a reason. Look how shoddy that rattlecan paint work is on that door and fender.

Since we're in the same area, I looked it up as well to see the rest of the pics and I don't believe that's a southern truck based on this hint



You are right in that there does seem to be some better deals on these around here than what I see others post.

 

Well small update, i called back to confirm the process if i were to remove the bed, and they either dont want the job or the Estimator royally fucked up. The shop manager said i would be looking at closer to $4500 for a recolor, jambs included. Very disappointed in the guy that did my estimate, but im very glad i called in to confirm. Looks like the color change may have to wait unless i come into some quick cash...

Tried out a mamba green wrap sample and its similarly metallic, but just too light compared to the old Spruce Mica.

 

It's good you called back to confirm, for $4500, you could go to a real paint shop and get a much better result. Sanding, a little Bondo, you could be a happy tundra lover! But even then, I would strip everything you possibly could to get the price down to suit your wallet! If necessary, if you have AAA, they could flatbed your truck to and from the shop! A little preparing goes a long way!

 

I wanted to change color last year when I had my 2nd gen repainted. I wanted a burnt orange color. But as other have pointed out, door jambs, under hood, etc would have been a pain to respray and costly. So, I opted to stick with the OEM color. New paint job for the entire truck was approx $6k (not MAACO).