I'm genuinely curious as to how/where you draw the line between "premium" and "bare bones." I have a Daly M5 hi-cap .45, retails about $550-$600 last time I checked. Sits in the hand like a Kimber (I think the company that produces the lower receiver used to supply Kimber with the same sorts of parts), functions flawlessly, and is every bit as accurate out of the box as 1911-frame autos from Colt or Springfield costing about twice as much.
But I understand with guns: "to each their own." Lots of guys crap on Taurus autos; I bought a PT-92 back in 1991 with some of my accumulated deployment/combat swag from Desert Storm. I've put thousands of rounds (10K would be a very conservative estimate) through it, everything from high-dollar Golden Eagle to p.o.s. aluminum-cased target loads, and it has fed them all reliably and put holes in the target where I want them all that time. Some guys love Glocks; I don't.