You don't have to bond with your car, but it really helps if you love your car. Know what I'm saying? I'll elaborate... I average 20k miles on my car in a given year, pretty much any given year for the past 6 or 7. (This last year is actually the first year I've probably averaged substantially less than that.) I'm not attached to my car, perse - yes, it has a name (Ricardo) - but if I crashed it, I wouldn't cry about it, or miss it like an old friend. I'd shrug, and I'd get a replacement vehicle ASAP, and that would suck, and the process would suck...but I wouldn't be emotionally upset that I lost that specific car to "car-death." On the other hand - I've thought about this in passing over the years, cuz you have to - I'd probably replace it with the exact same make and model, if I were able to. I love my car. I love my leather seats, I love the sunroof, I love how it handles (every time someone else drives and goes, "You have really responsive brakes!" I nod proudly and am like, "Yep!" - cuz why wouldn't you have responsive brakes if you had that choice, hmm?), it's never given me a real mechanical problem or failure, it just - works. It works well in every way that I need it to work. It doesn't feel too big or too small. Some of the controls are a little non-intuitive and I don't necessarily know how to work them without getting in there and mashing on the buttons...but those controls are things like passenger climate control and the built-in GPS system, they are not things I use much at all, nor is their design impactful to me as a driver in any way on the regular. Get a car you love. Love cars because they work. I guess - you don't have to bond with a vehicle and doing so, could be kind of silly sometimes, even. But you do have to trust it.
2010 Mazda 3s, Which I got used with about 45k miles on it - but fully loaded with the leather seats, sunroof, 6 disc cd changer, et al. It was actually the first car I test drove and someone almost bought it out under me, but their financing fell thru or smtn. I will also say I’m fortunate to travel frequently for work but only close enough distances that they’re driveable - I could train or I could drive and I accrued too many really frustrating train experiences (and much prefer the freedom/flexibility driving affords) to really continue the Amtrak route. What I’m getting st by this is I get to drive compact/intermediate rental cars 6x-10x a year and I use it as an opportunity to check out different make/models (basic features across the board but how a car handles matters most to me nonetheless). So I’ve gotten to drive the Ford Focus, basic Kia, basic Nissan, sometimes venturing into even CRV or midsize range depending on what the rental company has available...Basically I’ve been able to test drive a variety of vehicles in about the size & price range that I’ll be looking at down the road, and I’ve definitely tried to consciously note cars I like or cars I don’t. So I’ve gotten some freebie exploring that not everyone can take advantage of. At the end of the day I prefer the Mazda, absolutely. For a compact 4-door the Nissan, Kia, Ford, just don’t compare. They all feel lighter (pushable by wind) which is a big factor for me (I drive over a couple of windy bridges on route). I tried the Yaris and that just sucked. Once I had a CRV and that was pretty good but that’s more vehicle and gas than I’d need or want IRL. Also it made me feel ridiculous. Generally speaking Nissans aren’t bad (first car was a Nissan) but the Mazda wins out overall. Used to drive a Prius but once I got used to the acceleration of standard cars the Prius became frustrating - Ricardo is v responsive. Just a 4-cylinder. The biggest trouble I have (had) with him is tires, and I’m pretty sure that’s mostly my fault - mine and the potholes’. Hands down recommend any day.
That is the car I was set on buying, but the telescope would not fit in the rear doors due to the slope of the roof. You mention the Ford Focus. What did you think? Did you, like I did, wonder how a car could be that FUCKING TERRIBLE and still sell?
I'd say I trust my car to not do something stupid. If it was a person, it wouldn't spend the grocery money on lottery tickets. But if it was a person it would put the toilet paper on backwards and burn dinner because they were watching TV and lots of other little things that would bug me. I liked my last car, but when it was time to change, I shrugged and moved on, sort of like you said. This one, then, isn't a bad car, but it isn't a great partner.