My friend needs advise about owning a car in rural areas

Hi Doreen, I hope you are doing well, so nice to hear from you. OK, living in the mountains, which, I would give my right arm to be living, LOL, has great advantages in owning a car. Your insurance must be very, very low or next to nothing. Where as someone here in NY will be paying twenty times your amount. So owning a car in a rural area is more wise than renting. Maintenance can be a problem if you do not have a good trustful mechanic nearby. Stations in rural areas sometimes charge much more than city stations because there are less customers around and they need to have the daily cash flow. Watch the bill very carefully and know the exact price before your mechanic starts the work on it. He might open up a can of worms in your engine and hit you with a bill so high, you will be crying all the way to the bank for a cash withdrawal. I don't trust them as far as you can throw a stick. Check out the BBB.org website for the background check of your mechanic, it's free. So be very careful when selecting a "Mayberry" gas station. If you have a business and use the car,some of it can be a write off on your taxes. Aside from all this, you are very smart in buying your clunker in cash, I would do the same. When the mileage gets to high, sell it cheap and buy another vehicle in cash. Don't forget to use Carfax before you make that purchase. Keep stashing the bucks away for this goal. Good Luck with driving your wheels. Frank