I guess you already knew the answer. In the end it will all depend on your financial status. There will be good cars and average/poor cars so if you go downgrade, of course you will feel the refinement, power, comfort or whatever is gone. This question I presume you don't need to ask. The only question you are asking whether one can live with it, if you don't have much money left in the bank, you will still have to live with it, a Proton or Perodua even though the refinement is inferior or poor.

However, I can understand the situation right now. The prices of everything especially cars have gone up considerably throughout the years due to inflation while the income may not seem to be catching up or matching the increase in prices of everything. A C-segment car used to sell for RM100k to 120k about 10 to 15 years go and now it's selling between RM130k to 150k. A Honda City or Toyota Vios used to sell for RM69k to 75k+ and now the high spec model seems to go above RM100k already. Even Proton or Perodua which are considered bread and butter are not exactly cheap anymore although they are considered the cheapest you can buy.

I have not "downgraded" yet as I am sure I won't be able to live with the downgraded performance but I do know well one day I will be going the same route. When you reach a point especially after retirement, you don't spend money on cars anymore as it's the lowest priority. It's a liability. As some have mentioned, the most important is TROUBLE-FREE car, a car which does not give you headaches, and this means brand new cars which include Proton or Perodua. Not 2nd hand imported cars where breakdowns and high cost of maintenance will add more to your misery. I guess you are not retired yet so it may be out of topic. However, if you feel you are somewhat struggling, then by all means downgrade and go with a vehicle that you can comfortably afford while you maintain your everyday life.

My own motto with vehicles is always buy new within your means, which means either cash (easier said than done for fresh graduates or youngsters) or the max 5 years loan or shorter, say a Perodua Myvi rather than going with Toyota Vios or Honda City for status and stretching your loan to 9 years etc. I am at a stage where I don't pay car loans anymore. All my previous cars the max loan I took was 5 years and not more.

I am almost in the similar situation, whether to keep existing car and spending $$$ yearly for maintenance and replacement of wear and tear items. My car is exactly 10 years old on this month September, but low mileage still below 80,000 km. Sell or keep, as usual it depends on individual preference, no right or wrong. In my view, if the car does not give you any major headaches in terms of frequent breakdown or costly repairs, and you can still manage it, you can still keep it. Otherwise, sell and get new reliable car. As I have said earlier in other threads, even though the car is a joy to drive and comes with great acceleration power or whatever, if it frequently breaks down with high maintenance bills of say RM10k a year, then it's no use. It's a hassle or burden if you are suddenly left without a car (if you don't have a backup car) and your existing car is stuck at the workshop for several days or weeks for repair. Things like this.

Ideal case is to change to a new car of similar quality or performance if not better but I can understand that is not always achievable. Having said that, there are many here who have downgraded to Perodua and Proton and are perfectly happy so in the end it's all up to the individual's priorities or expectations. You don't expect too high and you'll be fine and be able to live with the reduced refinement, handling, acceleration power or whatever. As some have mentioned, in the end it's just a car which will get you from point A to B. Every car from cheap to expensive is able to do that. You only pay more for comfort, performance or status if you have more money that's all.

This post has been edited by SportyHandling: Sep 14 2023, 12:02 PM

My cousin who is a doctor used to own BMW 320 but it is severely under-utilised since he only travels to and fro from his clinic to his house just 5 minutes away. In the end he sold it and stuck with his old and trusty Toyota Prius C. In this case, he may appear to have "downgraded" to a lesser car but it's for good use so it can seen as an upgrade in his case.

This post has been edited by SportyHandling: Sep 14 2023, 12:09 PM

Someday we will all go too, so whether good or bad memories it doesn't really matter too much to me. Similarly I'll give it about 1 or 2 years more before I sell my car, and it will surely before it hits 150,000km from the rate I'm going. Most people hang on to old cars as they don't have enough money or do not wish to commit to new cars for certain reasons. Since you still have a motorcycle as backup, I guess it's still not too bad.

Within this 1 year, I have spent RM8k+ on my Ford Focus just to replace faulty parts, not including the usual maintenance.

In the end it's all your own decision but better just stick with Perodua as I believe the current new generation Peroduas are rather high quality now. This is just my opinion, and I get criticized a lot for saying this on public. Based on my experience with the previous Honda City, I think you are better off going with Perodua rather than City or Vios, especially the City. I find the quality of the City or Honda cars in general to be poor in terms of showing a higher than normal rattling sound in the cabin. The handling of the Proton Preve Turbo is better than the City, apart from showing less rattling sound. In my mind good quality starts from C-segment onward especially with Toyota where the vehicles (Altis etc.) are still CBU from Thailand. To cut a story short, I find B-segments from honda and toyota to be poor value but that's just my opinion. I would rather go Perodua or upcoming new Proton S60 and skip City/Vios, or go Altis/Civic.

This post has been edited by SportyHandling: Sep 14 2023, 01:04 PM