I do want to buy a used car

[Mercutio]

Option 1 is highly dependent on my dad being willing to sell. In the past he's said he wants to keep it for the same practical reason I have one: They're great to just pile crap in, which is awesome when you're bringing home a load of whatever from Home Depot.

His "main" car is a '25 Grand Highlander Hybrid of some sort and I think the only reason he still drives his dog around in his Element is that leather seats weren't optional for the Highlander he got. I've never been in that car but I'm guessing that it's a very comfortable and relatively affordable. I think he was using a Honda Pilot before that.

 

[DrunkenBastard2]

You mentioned not wanting to stand out as the "fancy vehicle' in a high crime area so maybe your dads Element would be the low profile option if it pans out.

 

[Mercutio]

You mentioned not wanting to stand out as the "fancy vehicle' in a high crime area so maybe your dads Element would be the low profile option if it pans out.

Any car I own is going to get filled with things most people would never guess is valuable, and it will full time look trashed. Photo stands and lights, tons of random cables and plain cardboard boxes with random PC hardware. There won't be visible tools. My T420 is in there someplace, sure, but that doesn't look even remotely worth taking either. I've had a 60lb color laser printer on my back seat since probably February; I've been trying to give it to a friend for months and I'm too lazy to take it back up the stairs to my place, so there it will stay until I find somebody to take it, even if it's some asshole who broke into my car. Sometimes, there's a toddler-size car seat on the other side. If somebody decides to dig through everything looking for something that's valuable enough to pawn or trade for crack, good fucking luck.

The one time my car has ever been broken in to happened in an affluent and lily-white community called Crown Point. They broke my passenger-side window to take a bag with three small Lego sets I left on the passenger seat and they also got the only pair of prescription sunglasses I've ever owned, which had Oakley frames. They didn't even try to go through the rest of the car and the bigger problem of that was happening was having a broken car window in December.

But no, I don't want to be responsible for a shiny and visibly new car, given my address. The parking lot where I live is full of comfortably older, nondescript vehicles. My partner's then brand-new Mini left me with paranoia that never occurred to me before she got it, and that was the impetus for pointing a camera at our parking lot ~3 years ago.