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Americans can no longer afford their cars (www.newsweek.com)

submitted 11 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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[–] Kyrgizion 8 points 11 months ago (1 children)

That's not just in the US. I drive a car I can't afford either, but it's a company car so I don't have to worry about it. It's still kinda wild to me that asking for a few € raise is seen as impossible but giving me a 50K car isn't a problem (I know, I know, tax breaks etc).

[–] [email protected] 2 points 11 months ago

Let's assume you get taxed at 50% (very high estimate) and the car lasts 10 years (or they get half back after 5 years), that's about €2.5k/year if you got it in cash instead of a car. Or they could get a €30k car and give you €1k/year more (not counting insurance, gas, maintenance, etc).

I personally would never spend €50k on a car even if I could afford it, I'm more of the €15k used and keep until it hits 300k km kind of person. My current cars have 230k and 290k km respectively. I'd much rather have the cash than a company car; even after the tax hit, I'll probably still come out ahead, and I wouldn't need to worry about what happens if I switch jobs.