None of the DIY stuff hold up that well. Your garage mat can pull it off. Do a garage mat or paint. Not both.

So before the epoxy was applied, a strip of gray concrete was showing below the door. I can understand why you don't want to see the speckled epoxy outside the door. It seems to me that if paint won't last and the gray epoxy will yellow due to the sunlight, adding a strip of dark gray epoxy might solve the problem. (Hopefully that color would be less likely to yellow buy you might want to inquire about that.) I don't think you're being too picky. I see that this thread is a few months old. Were you able to find a solution?

In my neck of the woods (expensive Canadian City on the West Coast), an epoxy job STARTS at $7 - $10/sf and moves up from there. Garage floors are tricky because the slab does NOT have a vapour barrier underneath. It is an added expense to the builder for an uninhabitable space. That means the slab is sitting over DAMP earth...all the time. Where does that dampness go? Into the garage. What happens if you coat the garage slab with a 'slap down' coat of DIY epoxy? The moisture builds up in the concrete and EVENTUALLY bursts through. That moisture, sitting on top of concrete but UNDERNEATH the epoxy = peeling. So a proper epoxy job should include scarification (grinding or shot blasting), Sealant (moisture mitigation) and then the coat (or 2) of epoxy. If you are in a rainy or snowy area of the world, you will need to add some grit to the surface. No problem...but it is an 'up-charge'. Just be aware of what a GOOD epoxy application LOOKS like. And then compare that to the quotes you are getting.

Congratulations on your new home. We have epoxy floors in the garages of one of our rental properties (was there when we bought it). It is very nice looking and easier to keep clean. It depends on what else you want to do with your home. I view it as a “nice to have” but not necessary. Agree with Jan that there may be other places to spend your money that will make you happier. If it were my place, finishing the garage walls would come first. Start a list of things you think you may want to do around the house and prioritize them. For many people, garage floors are not that important, but for others they are.