I'm in the same boat, down to preferring travel/experiences over things.
But last year, I bought a "nice" car. Not a Lambo, nothing that makes people turn their heads on the street, but 3-4x more than I'd ever spent on a car before. I'm not a car guy, but I remain astonished by how much I continue to enjoy driving it and how much the little luxury fripperies like a really quiet ride, driver seat automatically adjusting to my preferred position, heated steering wheel, adaptive cruise control with lane following etc add to the experience. Maybe I've been underestimating the value of well-made things after all.
> I continue to enjoy driving it and how much the little luxury fripperies like a really quiet ride, driver seat automatically adjusting to my preferred position, heated steering wheel, adaptive cruise control with lane following etc add to the experience.
I might be in the minority but I dread having to replace my car because I specifically don't want little "luxuries" found in new cars these days. I don't want a car that forces me to use touch screens, or will brake or accelerate on its own, or jerk the wheel under my hands, or ignore my input if it doesn't like what it thinks I'm doing, etc.
I can't complain about quiet ride, and a heated steering wheel might be nice in the winters (for what's left of them anyway), but generally I don't want anything more advanced than a backup camera and warning indicators when someone is in my blind spot or there is rear cross traffic. I suspect it'll be near impossible to find new cars that don't come with anti-features and the push to end sales of gas-powered vehicles is only going to make it harder.
But last year, I bought a "nice" car. Not a Lambo, nothing that makes people turn their heads on the street, but 3-4x more than I'd ever spent on a car before. I'm not a car guy, but I remain astonished by how much I continue to enjoy driving it and how much the little luxury fripperies like a really quiet ride, driver seat automatically adjusting to my preferred position, heated steering wheel, adaptive cruise control with lane following etc add to the experience. Maybe I've been underestimating the value of well-made things after all.