Speaking from my own experience here, and someone who does this for a living (building panels that is).
$29K should get you one heck of a panel. That should allow for a Dual Screen EFIS system, 2 axis Autopilot, nice Nav/Com or two, Audio Panel, Moving Map, backup instruments and a bunch of other goodies.
It's really hard to tell you if you're getting a good deal or not without knowing what you're putting in it. For example, we've done some really nice panels that come in well below $15K, but we finished up one last week with a really large Garmin IFR stack that was well over $50K. One radio or Chelton system can vary the price WILDLY! If you have one of the larger avionics houses do your panel, you're going to pay a LOT of money to have them do it. Conversely, there are sevearl panel building companies out there that do a really nice job for a lot less than you could probably do it for on your own (once you honestly figured out the time you'd spend doing it yourself).
Depending on each persons abilities and situation can either make it well worth while or a complete waste of money. If you're competent at wiring, then do it yourself. Conversely, if you don't have much knowledge in this area and are short on time, it's much smarter to work a few extra hours at your normal "day job" and pay someone else to do your panel. You'll be ahead in the long run.
If you give us a list of what you're putting in the panel, it'll be much easier to give you feedback. A simple $ figure really tells you nothing unless it's accompanied by a list of stuff that's filling the panel. For example: $29K for a chelton/IFR panel would be a steal, while $29K for a "Steam Guage"/VFR Panel would be a rape!
Just my 2 cents as usual!
Cheers,
Stein.
P.S., note: Roberta made a good point and she has one REALLY nice looking panel!
