Is it just me or my friends don't understand my Celica?
Hello everyone!
Since January of this year, I’ve been the proud owner of a beautiful Celica GTS. I’ll get straight to the point, but I wanted to give you a little backstory first.
I bought this car for a total steal from someone who had rescued it after the original owner abandoned it. It sat for a while, so I immediately took it to my mechanic to address a power steering issue and get it back to "baseline" with a full service and some engine work. It now runs like an absolute dream, and I’ve been happily daily driving it ever since. My next steps are the body shop—I'm planning a full respray, fixing some dents, and installing new headlights and a fresh front bumper.
It’s obviously a project car, but I’ve only spent about $5k (including the car itself). In my eyes, I’ve got a legendary 2ZZ engine for a bargain and I’m driving my dream car every single day. I can't get enough of it.
The problem? Everyone around me, from my girlfriend to my entire friend group thinks I’m driving a piece of junk. They keep telling me that fixing the bodywork is a "sinkhole" for money and that I should have just bought a newer, more "reliable" car.
I love this car. I want to bring it back to life and take care of it like it’s my baby. It’s incredibly fun to drive and, honestly, I think it deserves to be saved. But with all the negativity, I’m starting to second-guess myself.
Am I blind, or am I right? Did I actually make a bad decision, or do they just not "get" what it means to have a project car you love? Has anyone else dealt with this kind of "hating" from friends/family over a car they were passionate about?
They also criticize the high milage (260 thousand km) but I don't have issues with it, I think it just needs a little more care and that's it, what do ya'll think?