Anyone who pays $2500-3000 is seriously getting ripped off... unless the entire car is stripped down to bare metal and is completely painted inside and out.
I got my past car painted, an MX6, and the engine bay, inside the doors, all time taken off, etc was all painted. The job cost $1700 cash.
I'm def interested to hear how that Maaco paint job goes.. I've heard nothing but bad things about those guys.
And how reputable was the shop? What product was used?
I work at shop, and i can barely get materials at COST (yes, MY cost, which is 25-40% less than retail dependent on the product) to prep/paint my car in/out for $1700, and that doesn't include the 150+ hours of labor that would go into it, or overhead time to cover electrical, bake cycles, etc.
You get what you pay for, and cheap poor quality paint jobs/body work shows immediately.
I would expect $3000 on the LOW end to do it the right way, be prepared for $3000-$7000 dependent on how crazy you want to get with it.