body shop question

RedFish summed it up pretty good. Aftermarket panels are alot of work compared to an easy collision repair. Rust and previous repairs are all I do these days. The estimates you recieved are not that far out of line depending on what your local shop rates are.
I am at $45.00 and hour. It takes about 16 hours to install each quarter panel properly. Sometimes the quarters fit OK (just OK) and sometimes they don't fit at all and need additional time to correct the stamping problems. The you may as well figure 5-6 hours of time to fix the stretch marks, creases, dents, folds and what ever else happened during forming and shipping. If they are doing everything right you will have time in rustproofing inside the panels to keep the welds from rusting, time duplicating the fabulous inner quarter panel texture coating, etc. Plus the cost of materials. Welding wire, gas, fillers, primers, etc. Lots of other boring details like priming and re-priming....
It adds up in a hurry.
I would say that if a customer brings in a med. sized car like a Dart, on average, bodywork (a trunk floor, lower quarters, and a few misc. patches), paint, and materials (no parts or sheetmetal) the cost is right up there at 10K give or take a grand.
Then you have the "BIG" shops. You know the ones that think their can of paint is better than mine. Boyd, Rad Rods, Foose etc that charge $10,000 just to draw up the plans :wack: