I can go to the store, buy a dozen eggs, some bacon, muffins etc., and the wife and I can whip up a mean breakfast for the family fairly reasonable. Breakfast at the beach served up by a chef and a waiter...still the same food, but considerably more pricey!! The less involved you want to be in the process, from every aspect, the more you should expect to pay.

I don't mind when people work someone over on the price of a used part, or a car, or some thing, trying to get the best deal. But I've never seen a situation where I felt it was appropriate to dicker with a craftsman over the price of his services. The caviat, "You get what you pay for" usually applies, but I'll take it a step further, "Pay for what you get"! Many times, when a job comes out smoothly and I'm happy with the outcome, I'll pay more than the agreed upon total, and it always pays dividends later on.

I also hate paying a craftsman to do grunt work that I can handle myself, so whether it's removing stuff for cage work, or block sanding, or stripping an engine for machine work, your own sweat and muscle can make any job less exspensive.

That being what it is, I find it hard to justify a killer, top of the line paint job on a Race Car...I mean, a Drag Strip is a hostile environment!
My street-strip Valiant is basic single stage white and has had about 4 touch up/ and repairs at 300-500 a pop in the last 5 years.






I spent 2k on the Challenger the last time, but the cheap clear has been the downfall of that paintjob, so it's due again.