Then why do you buy a car?

Recently one of my neighbor in my apartment has bought a used car. Its a Santro. Its a petrol car. Just looking at it, it looks good and decently driven by its previous owner. When enquired, my  neighbor bought it for some 2.4lakhs ransom. But i have hardly seen him using the car. No miscellaneous rides. No regular usage. He doesn't use it for his daily office commuting either. He doesn't use his car even if he goes out with him family. I wonder when does he use the car. I know the pain of maintaining a petrol car. Every time you go to fuel station to refuel, your heart pinches...Rs.75 per liter. The mileage being hardly 15Kms in city(if driven light footed), its Rs.5 per kilometer. Yes it hurts so much.


Last couple of weekends, i notice him cleaning and dusting the car. I thought he should be going out with his family. But no. He takes out the car from parking. Just go for a ride and spin the wheels. Comes back. Park the car and go home. Pathetic situation. He is worried of the petrol price so much that, he uses his bike always. Car sits there just for a status symbol or some false prestige. Arey, if you can't afford to maintain a petrol car due to high fuel prices, then why do you buy one? Living in India, you know well that since October 2010, the petrol prices have been revised 6-7 times after deregulation of petrol by central government.


Every time i see him using his bike, i feel like asking...Why did you buy a petrol car when you cant afford to maintain it? That's pretty senseless.