By mid summer my VX will be paid off. In the spring time, I will do all the 100k maintenance, and then some under the hood. Right now, I have 85k on the clock.

My plan after it is paid for, is to replace it with another vehicle (I have decided, but that is a story for later) to use as my daily driver/trail banger. The VX will then be a permanant part of my soon to be modest car collection.

Right now, I have a brand new hood insert (came in yesterday, it's bootiful) and 2 new head lights. My VX's body and paint are....rough to say the least. I have 3 bad dents and loads of tree scratches, water spots, rock chips and other problem areas. This afternoon, I took my VX in to get an estimate on all the body repairs, including filling/pulling dents, scratch repair and any repainting/paint blending. The estimate came in just shy of $2000-ouch!

So, at that price, I kind of got to thinking. Maybe, it would be better for me to start looking for another Ebony that is being sold for $5000 or less. Maybe, if I am lucky, a really high mileage one, or one with a blown engine, but with a nice straight body. Purchase it, swap the body parts needed to bring my VX's body back up to speed, and then sell off the donor VX for whatever I can get. This way, I don't have any bondo issues or anything of that nature.

Is this a stupid idea?

Bart