But, even assuming 2022 savings levels… that’s half the population that would need their savings to multiply by at least a factor of ~x42.5, to be able to afford the average used car, without financing.
… You are wildly, incredibly out of touch.
Sure, yes, its technically possible, technically doable, in approximately the same way that it’s technically possible and doable that I could become a millionaire by the end of 2026.
Yep, its a poverty trap to finance a car.
Correct.
… and that is the only viable choice for people in car centric, car dependent American, people who don’t have thousands to tens of thousands of dollars in savings, which is the vast majority of people.
In conclusion: America is a poverty trap.
… Metric had a song about this, what, nearly two decades ago?
When I was car shopping at the end of 2024, I quickly realized the best bang for the buck was around $10-12k because at that price you could get a low-mid range vehicle that was around 6 years old with around 100k miles. Obviously some vehicles in that price range would be older with fewer miles, some would be newer with more miles, but that seemed to be about the price range where you’d get a vehicle which you could reasonably expect to be mechanically sound for at least another 2-3 years. Less than that and you got into vehicles that were far more worn either by age or by mileage, so you’d be trading upfront payment for additional maintenance costs.
$10k is a lot of money to save up. That’s about my entire emergency fund right now. That’s almost 3 years of socking away $300 a month, or 2 years at $500 a month. Simply put vehicle ownership is horrendously expensive especially for folks making close to minimum wage
I’m vacationing with my upper-middle class sibling. They rented a car for the week … for $970! for one week! It takes me months to save up that much money! And they do this every year!
This is why we drive when we go on our yearly trip back to the east coast to visit family. Flying would cost the same once you factor in a hotel stop midway, and would save 8+ hours if we were actually able to drive without stopping, but no one we visit lives near an airport and transportation to/from the airport adds a ton of cost.
The average person does not have to financial means to pay for a car or school without loans.
A car is absolutely doable without financing l. It’s a poverty trap to finance a car. What you can’t do is have a brand new car.
https://caredge.com/guides/used-car-price-trends-for-2025
https://moneyzine.com/personal-finance/savings-statistics/
… that’s as of 2022.
Its worse now, considerably.
But, even assuming 2022 savings levels… that’s half the population that would need their savings to multiply by at least a factor of ~x42.5, to be able to afford the average used car, without financing.
… You are wildly, incredibly out of touch.
Sure, yes, its technically possible, technically doable, in approximately the same way that it’s technically possible and doable that I could become a millionaire by the end of 2026.
Yep, its a poverty trap to finance a car.
Correct.
… and that is the only viable choice for people in car centric, car dependent American, people who don’t have thousands to tens of thousands of dollars in savings, which is the vast majority of people.
In conclusion: America is a poverty trap.
… Metric had a song about this, what, nearly two decades ago?
https://youtube.com/watch?v=fYbrb2YYqdo
When I was car shopping at the end of 2024, I quickly realized the best bang for the buck was around $10-12k because at that price you could get a low-mid range vehicle that was around 6 years old with around 100k miles. Obviously some vehicles in that price range would be older with fewer miles, some would be newer with more miles, but that seemed to be about the price range where you’d get a vehicle which you could reasonably expect to be mechanically sound for at least another 2-3 years. Less than that and you got into vehicles that were far more worn either by age or by mileage, so you’d be trading upfront payment for additional maintenance costs.
$10k is a lot of money to save up. That’s about my entire emergency fund right now. That’s almost 3 years of socking away $300 a month, or 2 years at $500 a month. Simply put vehicle ownership is horrendously expensive especially for folks making close to minimum wage
I’m vacationing with my upper-middle class sibling. They rented a car for the week … for $970! for one week! It takes me months to save up that much money! And they do this every year!
The wealth gap is rapidly increasing.
This is why we drive when we go on our yearly trip back to the east coast to visit family. Flying would cost the same once you factor in a hotel stop midway, and would save 8+ hours if we were actually able to drive without stopping, but no one we visit lives near an airport and transportation to/from the airport adds a ton of cost.