Paint peeling/worn very badly, starting around 2016.
Gas tank had to be replaced, due to corrosion.
If those are your only problems with it, you should be overjoyed. Think of all the people here with vehicles of that age that have very nasty, hard to diagnose, expensive problems. Maybe the car will have more value than you imagine if you sell it to someone who doesn’t mind the cosmetics…or likes to paint cars.
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After ONLY 13 years?
You should demand a full refund of your original purchase price from the manufacturer.
Please be sure to let us know how you fare with that demand.
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03 is getting up in years, I would still be driving my 03 different brand if it had no gotten rear ended, I was into maintaining it for time until a big expense came along. Your choice!
If you haven’t replaced the gas tank yet, do that first. You can’t drive it without gas The paint can wait.
How important are looks to you? If they are important, you can get a professional respray. I’d go with the same color to keep the cost down. You only need to paint the exterior that way, and not in the door sills, under the hood, and in the trunk. You can also keep the cost down my removing all the trip and taping everything the painter wants taped. You may need to remove all the exterior lights in addition to the trim. Don’t forget the grill and bumpers. It’s a lot of work, but you don’t have to pay them to do it. If this is beyond your skill level, you now know why paint is so expensive.
Forget the paint.
Repainting the vehicle would cost more than the vehicle is worth.
Your vehicle is at a point in its service life where you drive it and spend as little amount of money on it.
Tester
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