Ok, after 15 hours of play I think I can officially classify Pacific Drive as A Good Game. The pace stabilizes at around 45 minutes per run (for the first of three "zones", which I'm still exploring), so the lack of the instant save function stops being an issue.
The way you take care of the car feels very organic. They struck a good balance between upgrades being very piecemeal and still feeling meaningful. E.g. I couldn't afford four shock-resistant doors, so I did the one that mattered.