The one thing I have found is that people buy cars they can’t afford(i.e. have to borrow to get one) because they feel they are entitled to them. Also, they feel the car payment insulates them from reliability issues.
People are funny like that.
And most people can’t fix their own cars.
The thing about cars is that, in a way, they are like houses. That is, there are three bedroom houses and then there are three bedroom houses. You can get a little 1,000 sq ft rambler or you can get a 4,000 sq foot palacial 3 bedroom place with hot tub, covered patio, etc.
My point: People can buy the quality of car they want (and quality DOES matter) but they should stay within their budget. But that’s just me. I’m driving the 300M to work now to burn through the last miles. Even though one side is terribly dented up, the transmission is throwing a fault code, and the AC doesn’t work, it has a beautiful wood and leather interior, drives awesome, is very quiet, and has gobs of power to allow me to pass the 10 or so cars I pass every day with ease.
But I know it’s gonna snap any day. And when it does, I just hope it’s in the hands of a car dealer and not me.
It may not snap depending on the fault code. Our Explorer threw a fault code and my wife panicked. She had a rebuilt transmission put in that failed on a trip. I tried to convince her to keep driving with the fault. If the transmission goes, you have to replace it anyway. You may as well wait until it does fail.
How much to fix the AC and pull the dents?