There were times when I thought I would never own a car.

Taken at face value, the line frames car ownership as a modest but meaningful marker of stability—something the speaker once doubted would ever be attainable. In that sense, it gestures toward a narrative of scarcity, delayed opportunity, and eventual upward mobility: the “car” stands in for independence, access to work, and participation in ordinary middle-class life. The phrasing (“There were times…”) suggests repeated periods of uncertainty rather than a single low point, emphasizing persistence through fluctuating circumstances. Without a verifiable source, however, any more specific reading (e.g., tying it to a particular episode in Cruz’s career or upbringing) would be speculative.