that was my basic impression. I drove an '89? Izuzu and a '85? Mitsubishi as my first two cars in the mid '00s; they were pretty "just works" too, barring some repairs. Nothing this crotchety.

I now drive a '21 Camry and man, it's just nice. Things work. I mean, I don't mind pulling things apart, but it's like, do I really want to run Gentoo constantly if I don't budget 4-6 hours/mo to maintain it? (no)