I have a white crew cab and looked forever for a topper. Best I could do was a nearly brand new ARE for $350 but it was red. I called many local paint shops (maaco included), $400-$600 seemed to be the going rate. I called our two main topper stores in Denver and they sent me to a local shop. He had been doing all their toppers for 20+ years and has since gotten away from that side of the business (tons of prep work, not a great margin if you aren't doing a lot of them). He quoted me $400 if I brought it with all the windows taken off.
That as it turns out is not an easy removal/install. Rivets, sheet metal screws, gaskets, glass, big pain. He gave me two options. $500 out the door and he'd remove and replace the windows so he could get all the way to the physical edge of the topper. Much better chance of the paint holding up and looks cleaner. 400 to mask the windows off and do it the cheap way. I figured the extra hundred was money well spent and it turned out beautiful.
Dry sand, primed, wet sand, color coat, clear coat. While sanding the topper the edge underneath the riveted connections for the door started blowing up. Material flaking and popping, etc. He took the extra time to go in and repair all the fiberglass and rebuild that edge. He probably lost any small profit he had going, but stuck to his $500 quote. 2 year warranty as well.
My takeaway is this. The big paint shops are unfriendly, and are trying to get business in and out quickly. Toppers fall into the low margin small job category, so they're not going to treat it like a work of art. My suggestion is to call your local topper dealers and ask who they like to use. Chances are you can find a local guy with a fair price. On top of that you're supporting the local economy.
