Thanks for your replies, guys. No, actually, I'm not changing colors. The repaint isn't for the '04 GTO, it's for my daily driver, a '95 Caprice LT1. I agree with what you said Braman, about favoring quality rather than looking for the cheapest job around, but let me clarify a little.
I've received 2 estimates so far. The first was from a shop that's done some collision work for me in the past. They have an excellent rep, the owner is well-known for being very anal(and kind of on the expensive side, but verrrrrrry thorough), they've been in business for like 40 years, and from what I could tell about the job they did when my daughter wrecked my truck, the work looked flawless. The owner first tried to talk me OUT of getting the car painted, telling me the job would cost me more than the market value of the car. Once we got past that sticking point, he told me it would cost me anywhere from 3k to 5k to properly do the job, but that he'd have to keep the car for a day to go over it and firm up the estimate.
The 2nd estimate was from a guy who is a client of mine who owns a bodyshop. He proposed to do the job roughly the same as the guy who gave me the 1st estimate. The only thing is, his estimate wasn't 3k to 5k, it was 7800. Now, I've been out of the car game for a long time, so, somebody tell meeeee :willy: (umm.......please?), is 3k or 4k reasonable these days, and is the bodyshop owner who quoted me 7800 totally out of his mind, or am I way off base here for thinking that?