Is My Mechanic Treating Me Fairly - Is This His Problem or Mine?

Based on repair prices I keep hearing quoted in the area where I
live-some areas may have independent mechanics not booked for months
in advance-you just can't afford to keep a vehicle running for more
than a few years after EOW (end of warranty) unless you are doing you
own repairs. My next door neighbor sunk $3400 into having a Dodge
minivan "gone through", which wouldn't have an "ACV" of $3400 even if
the factory paint-the dull rose beige- weren't sloughing off.

I'm in the planning stages of a Jeep project and planning to use
fiberglass body parts. I looked around for a shop to paint them-new
fresh out of the mold fiberglass, no hardware attached, and me doing
reasonable surface prep, no dismantling involved, wipe it down and
shoot it-the "legitimate" body shops around here either stuck their
nose up at it unless they could have it as a running vehicle (so they
could take it back apart at $75 an hour....) or quoted me astonishing
prices. Finally I found a guy who redoes boats in his little quonset
hut who wanted the job and will get it if I don't go the gelcoat
route, but it was obvious these guys either had monster overhead or
wanted to retire to a penthouse in Manhattan.