Nothing Margot says is outdated if you don't want car payments. If you insist on living above your means. Then don't complain that you can't possibly buy a car outright cause "status". Earn Status, save then with PORTION of your cash, buy they car you like. (bitchin about saving? Learn to make more money doing something else.)
Boomer brain detected. Tell me, what’s the difference between the used car market today and 20 years ago? Did planned obsolescence disappear? Where are the cars lasting 30 years and 300k miles with good maintenance today? Did the supply of cars meet demand or has there been intentional scarcity? How did Covid, cash for clunkers, and mass immigration impact price point?
Not a boomer, sorry, its common sense though. Go to a car lot, get a used car you can afford. It might be $1000 or even less. spend your money on keeping it running instead of monthly payments. Work at a job that makes more money or better yet your own business on the side. Get better car. Get a mentor. Don't repeat mistakes someone else already made and set them back years. TO your other questions... 2. not much, I paid $300 for my 1st car and I could do it again today if I was 15 yo and working. 3) No, but not all cars posses planned obsolescence. 4) buy older model Toyotas, Hondas or similar in great shape from old people. 5) supply/demand is nothing you can control in the macro. In the micro, where you live, find a car for sale with a lot of similar cars like it also for sale. Then negotiate down. 6) Bitching about the past doesn't change price point. Do what you can do and vote accordingly so the future doesn't arrive with regrets.
Nothing Margot says is outdated if you don't want car payments. If you insist on living above your means. Then don't complain that you can't possibly buy a car outright cause "status". Earn Status, save then with PORTION of your cash, buy they car you like. (bitchin about saving? Learn to make more money doing something else.)
Boomer brain detected. Tell me, what’s the difference between the used car market today and 20 years ago? Did planned obsolescence disappear? Where are the cars lasting 30 years and 300k miles with good maintenance today? Did the supply of cars meet demand or has there been intentional scarcity? How did Covid, cash for clunkers, and mass immigration impact price point?
and then while your car is being worked on you can spend as much as you make just paying for transit so you can keep your job. There is no winning.
Only two points in and we're already at "pull yourself up by your bootstraps and just make more money"