Never had this done myself but I've heard you can just have a few coats of clear applied to the car with surprisingly good results if the color doesn't show scratches, etc. too badly.

No idea on price, might be unique prep. work that would need to be done before than too so it might not be much cheaper.

However, some people like the idea of keeping the original paint on the car if it's held up well over the years, that way you know it's not going to start peeling off in a couple years.