Darrin,
How is SoCar treating you? Are you the only VX around for hundreds of miles?
As for your exhaust issue (on the VX, not your personal exhaust issue); I thought that there where a few owners who have had a "custom" exhaust bent up for the VX and I don't remember it costing anywhere near $2700. I think Rickshaw had some work done on his undercarriage. Hopefully one of those guys will pipe up.....HA, get it!? "PIPE"? Like exhaust pipe?......Oh never mind......
"The major difference between a thing that might go wrong and a thing that cannot possibly go wrong is that when a thing that cannot possibly go wrong goes wrong, it usually turns out to be impossible to get at or repair."
-Douglas Adams, Mostly Harmless