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Notes -
Eh, at best you are equivocating between the two.
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My last car was (minorly) dented several times (when other, less attentive people were driving it...) and the paint was peeling on the hood. I could have dropped thousands of dollars to have the dents fixed and repainted, but why? I pocketed the insurance payout and put it in the S&P instead. Car drives just as well with a minor dent on the bumper.
What I'm trying to say is, you are again conflating driving and purely aesthetic aspects of the cars being driven.
Good for you. The questionable thing is acting as if it's ridiculous that some people just want to have low TCO. More than one set of preferences is valid.
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