Around here (south Texas), if you want a complete repaint of an older car with a straight, rust-free body, you can find a large number of independent shops that will do a decent two stage job for $2,000 - $2,500. This is because labor is cheap and the right shop will not have much overhead and probably not work on insurance jobs. Keep in mind that good quality base coat and clear coat runs several hundred dollars per gallon combined so it's easy to have $500 - $700 in just materials cost (primer, sealer, base, clear, activator, etc).
I know an Hispanic fellow that runs such a shop near us and primarily does body and paint work on large RV's but will take a fender or nose clip repaint or a complete job if there is not too much in the way of repair work. He takes cash for those small jobs. His work is very good and he has a pretty steady business. But this is south Texas and not Boston or St. Louis.
With respect to older cars, keeping the original finish is very desirable these days, especially in the collector classic market as it's getting harder to find "collectibles" that have survived in near original condition.
My 2003 Jetta resurrection project is coming along nicely and she's running strong now that I have found all the vacuum and boost leaks, etc. The body on the car, having spent 9/10's of its life in northeastern Wisconsin, is pretty good and fairly rust free. I replaced the front fenders due to the common issue and the balance of the body appears to be rust free, even the rocker panels. It could use a complete paint job as it has several dings and scratches and now two nicely painted fenders, but I am not going to go that route with 300K miles on the car and also the clear coat shows no evidence of oxidation and peeling. I'll call it a 10 footer for attractiveness though (it photographs well
).
Peter, we are looking forward to seeing this red Golf with it's new finish! It should be a beauty and hopefully, not a garage queen!