this post was submitted on 26 Feb 2026
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A Boring Dystopia
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Why do people always have to live above their means and then complain? If You can't pay cash for your car, it's outside of your budget.
I see so many people here driving cars that are Wwwwaaay above what they could actually afford. One tiny miscalculation and shit hits the money-fan.
I would never feel relaxed driving a car that is beyond the amount of spendable cash I have. Unless its company leasing. Those are so cheap it hurts ๐
On one hand I agree with a lot of the replies about how all cars have gotten massively expensive, but also I do generally agree with you. Like, yeah, it's absolutely awful that Americans can't buy a reasonably affordable station wagon with decent mileage to haul around their 5 kids these days, and the light truck loophole needs to be closed.
But also, I swear to fuck, the number of people I know that are lower/middle class schmucks who scoff at the idea of driving something that's small, boring, and efficient is part of the problem. It's a weird situation where it's getting harder and harder to live within one's means, but also so many people seem adamant not to.
Yeah my reasonable vehicle isn't able to do everything I might want to, it wasn't new, it's not the fanciest car, and it isn't engaging in the arms race that our roads have turned into. But I paid cash, I get good mileage, and it's good enough. I'm what would be considered lower middle class to the boomers. I don't make enough money to get the nicest, fanciest car or to drive a giant expensive suv and also have good finances.
I will say though that many Americans simply cannot pay cash or go without a car. When for most of the country busses in a major city come once an hour (and if you live in the affordable suburbs, it's a single commuter bus) it's often either vehicle ownership or unemployment. And cities with good public transit are generally pretty expensive. But you need to actually develop the financial literacy to understand what kind of loan you can take on and what kind of car you can have. You need to stop thinking of a car loan as a fixed cost that once it's paid off it's time to buy another car, and instead once it's paid off it's time to start putting that money aside for your next car so you take less of a hit. Americans don't save even when we can, we take more debt than is reasonable and buy above what we can afford. Until that pattern stops we're going to continue moving towards longer loans with more expensive payments.
I'm not saying that there weren't many bad decisions made, but this is also misdirecting where blame is owed. Cars have gotten more expensive and if you are a family, there really aren't any low-cost family hauler options. Yes, people make bad choices, but they are often lead on by sales people and, in the US, they likely have to have a car.
See the latest Climate Town
Without a car sucks too here (Germany). We may have a better public transport but it still sucks bigtime the last time I had to use it. And I will not try it again unless forced to ๐
Also yes, cars got way more expensive and also the dumb cars will soon die out.
But honestly, "being lead by sales people" isn't really a great excuse to sign your financial ruin. Could be avoided by first assessing what you actually CAN pay in the WORST CASE without being totally fucked, then find the right thing online and avoid salespeople. And I'm not great with money or a very responsible adult. Yet I would never go to a car shop and "browse" there. My desires might overshadow my abilities and salespeople can sniff that ๐
The financial literacy in this country is beyond poor. People really don't understand money and, likely, that's intentional.
The "right way" to do this is to not finance the car at all (given that it's a depreciating asset). You save monthly what a payment would be and buy the car outright. Once you've done that, you drive it into the ground and save for the next car the entire time.
People don't have the discipline for that.
"Can't post my shitbox on the 'gram, I don't wanna lose aura." ๐คท๐