Something that keeps popping in my head is that there are tons and tons of people daily driving old pieces of shit that they keep running and they work well enough despite constant repairs.
I drove that NA Miata every day for 5 years with next to no maintenance before it stopped running and it was not in good shape when I got it. What failed on it would have been a cheap and easy fix if I'd done it at the time, but I was lazy and looking for an excuse to get something else.
We're kinda car snobs here and our minimal acceptance standards are frequently unlike most people. As I age, I see less and less value and justification for newer and more expensive cars. Even "under warranty" holds less and less appeal every year whether I would fix it or pay to have someone fix it. It's been an interesting phase of my automotive development.
