The car that Vern has been driving for twenty years is his Volvo. Although it doesn’t have the same parts that it started with, they were replaced gradually; he didn’t purchase an entire new car at once. If a person receives a new organ, he or she is still the same person, as is the person who lost the organ. Even if a person dyes his or her hair and physical appearance is changed, once again, it’s the same person. To put it simply, everything is evolving every second, whether it’s an instant noticeable change in physical appearance or some kind of change or decay in particles that doesn’t become apparent for many years. Although things or people evolve, they are still the same, just different versions of the same things.
The heap of parts in Grace’s Garage contains parts that used to make up Vern’s Volvo. If Vern found out about the pile of parts, he might want them for sentimental value, but I don’t think he would still consider it his car and claim to have ownership. If she assembles them, a new car is created. This new car is not Vern’s Volvo, even though it would look like the original car. It is simply made with parts of his old car. He already has his Volvo, the one he drives every day. Clearly it’s not exactly the same as when he bought it twenty years ago; everything changes and evolves, but in the end it remains the same.
