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People afford cars because they want them and they arrange their financial priorities to support their vehicles as well as anything else they want in their lives that they enjoy. Obviously not everyone is financially smart about a lot of things but more are getting to that point everyday.
I hear what you're saying. Cars have become ridiculously expensive when adjusted for inflation and compared with real incomes, which incidentally have been stagnant for twenty years now. Back in the day, $10k (today's money) would have bought you a very nice new car. Can you imagine $10k buying anybody a nice new car today? I can't either.
I seriously love cars, they're my passion.. But I could never justify paying anything over $10,000 for a car.
Then I guess you'll never have a car worth more then $10,000. Nothing wrong with that; everyone's resource allocation priorities are different. Me personally, I've bought about 20 cars in my lifetime and only 3 of them cost more than 10K. But it's worth noting that part of why I've gone through so many cars in 20-some years is because many of them were disposable. That's what happens when you buy cheap cars. At some point it's worth paying more upfront now to avoid unexpected expenses later, but one's ability to do so depends on one's cash-flow situation
As for your question, people afford cars one of two ways: 1) they earn and save up enough cash to buy one outright in their price range, whatever that range may be; or 2) they buy one on credit.
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
34,732 posts, read 58,079,686 times
Reputation: 46205
the CAR is the CHEAP end of the deal...
fuel,
maint,
insurance,
registration,
TIME and money wasted...
At least I don't have to pay for fuel...
50 mpg since 1976, no Dinosaurs or OPEC required.
I paid $35.00 for my "StealthRabbit" You can find them in brier patches, look next door.
Total cost is less than $0.10 / mile INCLUDING the capital expense 'write-down'.
As mentioned above.. Cars don't have to COST much. I have bought many under $100 and plenty nice and fun too!
$10,000 That will never happen (tho I did pay $1800 for my last 52 MPG Passat. It has Airbags and AC... and goes 1200 miles per fill-up. Luxury AND economy. It also has Bilsteins and Audi TT suspension, so fun to drive FAST on corners too.
I live in the u.k and i spent £1000 on ym car 2 years ago, its still going strong, insurance is like £200 and i have modifications declared, it's lowered, twin weber carbed, straight through exhaust, different alloys etc. i pay like £20 a week on fuel and thats about it. tax is £120 a year too. I don't know what it's like in america, but it must be similar to what it is here, if not cheaper. i'm just saying it's possible to affor a car for like a tenth of your prediction. if it is that price wherever you are, you might want to move to england, just saying.
I paid $35.00 for my "StealthRabbit" You can find them in brier patches, look next door.
Total cost is less than $0.10 / mile INCLUDING the capital expense 'write-down'.
As mentioned above.. Cars don't have to COST much. I have bought many under $100 and plenty nice and fun too!
$10,000 That will never happen (tho I did pay $1800 for my last 52 MPG Passat. It has Airbags and AC... and goes 1200 miles per fill-up. Luxury AND economy. It also has Bilsteins and Audi TT suspension, so fun to drive FAST on corners too.
Yeah yeah we get it, you paid nothing for your rattlebox and it costs nothing to run. You're not obligated to post the same damn thing in post after post after post after post after post.
I seriously love cars, they're my passion.. But I could never justify paying anything over $10,000 for a car.
To each his own. Some folks have come to realize if they want something, they have to pay....you know the old saying "pay to play"....
Some are just cheap.
Me personally I don't want to pay $10k for a used car either, but I also know that sometimes you just aren't going to find someone selling a certain car for under $10k unless there's something wrong with it.
Most folks I know if they want a $10k or more car they finance it. Hopefully they have a good enough job that they can support the monthly payments.
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That will never happen (tho I did pay $1800 for my last 52 MPG Passat. It has Airbags and AC... and goes 1200 miles per fill-up. Luxury AND economy. It also has Bilsteins and Audi TT suspension, so fun to drive FAST on corners too.
