F. George McDuffee wrote:

The truth is that most people make no where near that much money,
and a "beater" is all they can afford (and in truth all they
need). In most states an older car pays much less in taxes and
license, and has lower insurance rates. The 4,500$ will
evaporate with the sales tax, property tax, license, insurance,
etc. leaving the "sucker" with sky high long-term [60 moth?] car
payments [unless these too are subsidized]

I think you nailed that down quite well.


Note that legislatively getting rid of existing cars to force
their replacement [like Japan] has been a Detroit "wet dream" for
decades. This was attempted during the 70s oil crunch in
California and then again in the late 90s under the disguise of
"environmental protection" and safety.

Dreams of that sort on many topics lay waiting in the wings.

Wes