Hi gary mac,
I too had vintage Fender gas a couple of years back, and after getting thoroughly confused by what was original, what decreased the resale value( wanted a player, but one with some value I could leave to the kids!) etc etc, and the minefield of both decent and unscrupulous dealers, I finally arrived at a nice '77 P bass in natural with a maple board. Played lovely, was a really good wieght, light for late 70's, and I thought, yes, this is the one. This process had taken about 8 months.
Anyway, I went to pick it up from the dealer and he also had an early 2000's and a 50th anniversary P, both immaculate, and both about half the price of the '77. I thought I ought to try them just to make a comparison, and they were both far superior in every possible way to any of the vintage basses I had tried.
So I now have a fantastic 50th anniversary P bass which is an absolute joy to play and has that classic sound that I was after. Yeah its a 'limited edition' but then half the stuff Fender put out is an anniversary of one sort or another, so I'm under no illusions on that front.
Whats the point of this rambling post, well I suppose I'm trying to say that, imho, if you're buying to use, gig etc, dont be blinkered by 'vintage', there are some great modern Fenders out there that you won't have to remortgage to afford.
By the way, I hope your luck changes, sounds like you're having a bad run at the mo.