Has anyone actually gotten a quality paint job and paid normal retail prices from someone who didn't give them the insider's deal of the century?

Nobody ever seems to have an answer better than "probably $2500 - 3000."

 

Thats how much a quality paint job will cost. Costs to consider are:

1) Same color? will be cheaper, color change would need re-paint in door jambs, trunk, under hood, edges (inside) of doors, etc.

2) Guarantee? Some will offer a lifetime guarantee on paint (mfgr).

3) Materials? Paint (base coat), adhesive promoters, clear coat(s), etc...Its not cheap.

4) Prepwork? Any shop that can paint your car the same day or next day is doing a poor job. Prep is 90% of the job. If you don't prep the surface right, a $1,000,000 can of paint won't do you any good.

Sometimes you have to pay for good work