"That said it is very hard for a body shop to match colors on any car that has been out in the sun for any part of its life. Even if they use the same paint code from the manufacturer."

using the same paint code makes it imposible..the paint has to be colour matched to whats on the car AFTER the new paitn has dried..a GOOD body shop will do that...

for the money being talked about i recon you would be better buying a gun (at least a devilbis) anda compressor and going it yourself...least you will take the time to do the prep right and a well preped job with a slightly iffy spray will look far better in a year than a well sprayed job on iffy prep...

this from a guy who spent about 500 hours on a spray job on a motorbike (tank, side panels, front guard and tail) - about 10 hours spraying the rest sanding, filling, guide coating and polishing....looked reaaaaaal nice till i threw it down the road...