I bought my car (a 2007 Mazda 3) for 1k 2 years ago and it currently has 200k miles. So far, other than tires and oil changes, I have spent almost nothing on maintenance in 15k miles and its been reliable. My girlfriend drives a 2018 Honda Accord and I dont feel confident driving around in my car with her. She's also Indian and I know how bad of an image "having a boyfriend that drives a beater" is in that culture. I too am Indian and my family would also always make fun of people in beater cars. I live across the country so my parents still think I drive a 2015 camry as they never visit me (or if they do, I could probably rent the same car on Turo to continue the lie) Her parents will probably think I smoke weed, have tatoos, am a high school drop out (Im in dental school),etc. Even though looks arent too bad, there is some visible rust, faded paint, almost every light is on on the dashboard, the car sometimes smells of burned oil when pulling up, and the interior can smell like exhaust fumes when idling for a long time. There also is a broken A/C which can be painful in the summer.
If it was only me, I would have no problem with the car and I love how it drives. In fact, I downgraded a few years ago from a 2015 camry as that car was so boring and the mazda looked a lot better.
Im just worried about the image of the car and how she will perceive me because I drive it. Im also worried she might think its unsafe breathing in the exhaust or seeing that the airbag/check engine light is on
Given all the lights on the dashboard/mileage, I wont get anything but scrap value for the vehicle, so I really want to continue driving this until the engine blows up.
At the same time, I do have about $30k cash and was thinking of maybe buying a used Acura, Lexus, or Volvo that looks at least decent for around $4k (all have over 200k miles too), but I really love my current car and don't want to take the risk of another high mileage car when my car currently drives fine. I also am saving $50/month now given I have liability only insurance on my beater.
My other thought is to maybe "rent" a car whenever I have to take her out for a longish drive and this would probably cost me about $1000 a year
Submitted March 31, 2022 at 12:49AM by Ukrainepolandborder https://ift.tt/SdcxfoC
