I love these ideas but I saw a demo of painting vinyl and Im not sure I love it

shrug 

Keter had some good ideas.  One of my first thoughts was the raw wood material, but I was thinking particleboard, plywood or OSB type.  All would have to be protected from standing water. Could cut them into squares, say like 4X4 and alternate the grain-like pattern if there  is one.  Clear finish, stain or paint. 

Wood has become expensive, even raw bldg materials so painting the vinyl itself would be the least expensive.

Another option:  prep well and cover w/new vinyl tiles.  Maybe you can find some on clearance.  Whenever I go to hardware & big box stores, I make a routine passby certain dept's looking to see what they are closing out.  I have been able to get some exciting deals.

Depending on the physical condition of the vinyl, you might be able to simply paint over it.  I've seen an intact vinyl floor degreased, sanded, and painted over with that spray paint used for painting plastic furniture, then sealed with several coats of clear polyurethane.  Looked good, but I don't know how it holds up to heavy foot traffic.

If you pull up the vinyl and you have concrete under there, consider just staining and sealing the concrete.  Or look into the epoxy garage floor finish kits, which come in several colors.

Marmoleum/linoleum is back in style and not too pricy, and I found nice porcelain tile at Home Depot for about $1 per square foot; definitely a DIY project if your subfloor is adequate. Rubber garage tiles are more expensive, but might also be a good option if you like the look.

I also saw a floor done over a wooden subfloor that needed reinforcement.  They used heavy MDF, and instead of finishing over it, they simply stained a pattern onto it and sealed it with heavy coats of polyurethane.  Downside is that you would need to wipe up liquid spills quickly and the polyurethane would need to be renewed regularly, or the MDF will swell.