1 in 3 Americans cannot afford a car repair
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Fair comment - but I have traded my son premium oil changes for him putting upgrade parts in my PC or fixing my iPlush gadgets ...Trust me - we are best suited in those roles ...
Originally Posted By: skyactiv
Another divide thread. Poor people don't typically buy brand new cars. There are going to be low paying jobs that keep people poor and unable to save money. The mentality in America is that they need more education because we can magically exist without people scrubbing toilets... .
Education does open doors to a better future.
Lots of so called 'poor' people don't have a budget.
Another divide thread. Poor people don't typically buy brand new cars. There are going to be low paying jobs that keep people poor and unable to save money. The mentality in America is that they need more education because we can magically exist without people scrubbing toilets... .
Education does open doors to a better future.
Lots of so called 'poor' people don't have a budget.
As a young adult in college, I had to learn to work on my own stuff or take the shoeleather express. No public transport available either in rural WV. It's amazing how much a person can learn when forced to survive with very little. That was 35 years ago, though. Cars were simpler and easier to fix (I had a 1970 Camaro w/307 engine).
Originally Posted By: madRiver
According to AAA study 1 in 3 Americans cannot afford average $500 repair with going into debt.
http://newsroom.aaa.com/2017/04/one-three-u-s-drivers-cannot-pay-unexpected-car-repair-bill/
This explains possibly why so many folks buy new cars and prefer perpetual payments/warranty. I feel for poor people however it seems more like a personal finance issue.
My wife and I driver 10yr old/200k vehicles each but fortunately can afford repairs which happen less often then you'd think but can be hefty.
That article is nothing more than a piece of fluff, with virtually no information to back up the author's assumptions and not worth the bandwidth that it takes to read.
Originally Posted By: Linctex
I personally know homeless people with cell phones. They might be a pre-paid "TracPhone" or "GoPhone" but they have a phone. Meals are often free, so money is spent on a phone instead.
Sorry skippy, but you're wrong. Those phones are part of the Lifeline benefit program that, among other things, provides discounted or free phone service to "qualifying participants". The program has been around since the mid-80's; at that time it subsidized land line phone service. It was expanded in 1996, and again in 2007-2008 to include cell phones. Chances are the "homeless" people with cell phones that surround you have subsidized phones under the Lifeline program.
According to AAA study 1 in 3 Americans cannot afford average $500 repair with going into debt.
http://newsroom.aaa.com/2017/04/one-three-u-s-drivers-cannot-pay-unexpected-car-repair-bill/
This explains possibly why so many folks buy new cars and prefer perpetual payments/warranty. I feel for poor people however it seems more like a personal finance issue.
My wife and I driver 10yr old/200k vehicles each but fortunately can afford repairs which happen less often then you'd think but can be hefty.
That article is nothing more than a piece of fluff, with virtually no information to back up the author's assumptions and not worth the bandwidth that it takes to read.
Originally Posted By: Linctex
I personally know homeless people with cell phones. They might be a pre-paid "TracPhone" or "GoPhone" but they have a phone. Meals are often free, so money is spent on a phone instead.
Sorry skippy, but you're wrong. Those phones are part of the Lifeline benefit program that, among other things, provides discounted or free phone service to "qualifying participants". The program has been around since the mid-80's; at that time it subsidized land line phone service. It was expanded in 1996, and again in 2007-2008 to include cell phones. Chances are the "homeless" people with cell phones that surround you have subsidized phones under the Lifeline program.
Originally Posted By: Mr Nice
Some idiots can afford every new iPhone that comes out, big flat panel TV, cable or satellite with 200 channels.... but can't afford a car repair ?
Sounds like 2 of my co workers
Some idiots can afford every new iPhone that comes out, big flat panel TV, cable or satellite with 200 channels.... but can't afford a car repair ?
Sounds like 2 of my co workers
Originally Posted By: Linctex
I personally know homeless people with cell phones. They might be a pre-paid "TracPhone" or "GoPhone" but they have a phone. Meals are often free, so money is spent on a phone instead.
Practicalities
A home is expensive, so is a vehicle. A mobile phone (which is what we call a cellphone in the UK) is peanuts. If you're homeless you are pretty much by definition mobile, so it might be your only way of being contacted.
I've been homeless, might be again, but I'd probably retain a phone even though I don't like them much.
I personally know homeless people with cell phones. They might be a pre-paid "TracPhone" or "GoPhone" but they have a phone. Meals are often free, so money is spent on a phone instead.
Practicalities
A home is expensive, so is a vehicle. A mobile phone (which is what we call a cellphone in the UK) is peanuts. If you're homeless you are pretty much by definition mobile, so it might be your only way of being contacted.
I've been homeless, might be again, but I'd probably retain a phone even though I don't like them much.
Re: smartphones
Many people are required to have a smartphone for work, even at a retail job. I'm required to have a smartphone to run a communication app and I'm not even management.
Also, mine was $1.00, and is now several years old. Not everyone who has a smartphone spent $700 on one, nor do they upgrade every couple of months.
Many people are required to have a smartphone for work, even at a retail job. I'm required to have a smartphone to run a communication app and I'm not even management.
Also, mine was $1.00, and is now several years old. Not everyone who has a smartphone spent $700 on one, nor do they upgrade every couple of months.
There but for grace of God go I...
A lot of people have a budget system that could be called first come, first served. They spend without planning until they run out. If something important is late to the cue then there is no money to cover it. Then they might take out a loan or use a credit card and it get's worse. Then there's the ever so convenient consolidation loan, everything in one payment, that is interest on top of interest. Everything ends up costing the price plus interest. And finally there's bankruptcy where you run out on your debts most times.
When I was young I drove a junker and ate rice and beans while I built up my own personal bank. I slept in a VW bus and showered in the gym while working my way through college and did not borrow a dime. I've owned lots of cars but never financed any of them. It was cash or nothing. The only things I've financed are homes and land.
I've busted out several times but never left without paying every debt down to the last dollar.
If you don't budget and stick to it you're screwed. And if you sell your self to a college loan you've been taken for a ride that gets really bumpy after graduation and there's no "Exit" button.
When I was young I drove a junker and ate rice and beans while I built up my own personal bank. I slept in a VW bus and showered in the gym while working my way through college and did not borrow a dime. I've owned lots of cars but never financed any of them. It was cash or nothing. The only things I've financed are homes and land.
I've busted out several times but never left without paying every debt down to the last dollar.
If you don't budget and stick to it you're screwed. And if you sell your self to a college loan you've been taken for a ride that gets really bumpy after graduation and there's no "Exit" button.
I'd like to see a similar discussion on how each segment of the auto repair industry has gone up in cost. Many of the maintenance items required on my vehicles I do myself. For the more difficult tasks (something I don't have the tools for, or the knowhow to do myself) I have my mechanic do them. I think he is very reasonable in price. I think the worst segment today is for paint/body work. I don't know why, but the last few times I've gotten quotes for paint work, the sticker shock almost took my breath away. What has changed in the automotive paint world that makes today's prices so astronomical? I can see why it doesn't take much damage on vehicles these days before the insurance company totals them...
Originally Posted By: Linctex
Originally Posted By: Mr Nice
Some idiots can afford every new iPhone that comes out, big flat panel TV, cable or satellite with 200 channels.... but can't afford a car repair?
Priorities.
I saw people in Indonesia with a dirt floor and no glass in their windows watching a TV in their "home".
I personally know homeless people with cell phones. They might be a pre-paid "TracPhone" or "GoPhone" but they have a phone. Meals are often free, so money is spent on a phone instead.
The TV example, at least in some cases, is actually an example of sound financial management amongst the poor. Compare the cost of a babysitter to the cost of a TV. That's why they buy them, by the way.
It's similar with cellphones. If you are on a contract, the cost of the phone is built into the monthly wireless charge. Continuing on a contract without upgrading the phone every x number of years ... whatever the contract says ... means you are paying for a phone you didn't get. Plus, a cellphone is by an order of magnitude cheaper than a land line once was.
Around 1970 you paid perhaps $20 a month for a landline, more than a dollar per minute for long distance, yet the poor needed one. Compared to my parents' mortgage payment at that time ... $25 a month ... and you see the contrast.
They bought the house in 1952 at $3,200.00, $25 a month for 25 years. Today in the local market it would sell for roughly $250,000. Three years later my Dad bought a 55 Chevy, for $1800.00. In those days a three year term was about as long as you could get, so $50 + finance charges ... admittedly low % at the time compared to today. But the point being, it's all in perspective.
Originally Posted By: Mr Nice
Some idiots can afford every new iPhone that comes out, big flat panel TV, cable or satellite with 200 channels.... but can't afford a car repair?
Priorities.
I saw people in Indonesia with a dirt floor and no glass in their windows watching a TV in their "home".
I personally know homeless people with cell phones. They might be a pre-paid "TracPhone" or "GoPhone" but they have a phone. Meals are often free, so money is spent on a phone instead.
The TV example, at least in some cases, is actually an example of sound financial management amongst the poor. Compare the cost of a babysitter to the cost of a TV. That's why they buy them, by the way.
It's similar with cellphones. If you are on a contract, the cost of the phone is built into the monthly wireless charge. Continuing on a contract without upgrading the phone every x number of years ... whatever the contract says ... means you are paying for a phone you didn't get. Plus, a cellphone is by an order of magnitude cheaper than a land line once was.
Around 1970 you paid perhaps $20 a month for a landline, more than a dollar per minute for long distance, yet the poor needed one. Compared to my parents' mortgage payment at that time ... $25 a month ... and you see the contrast.
They bought the house in 1952 at $3,200.00, $25 a month for 25 years. Today in the local market it would sell for roughly $250,000. Three years later my Dad bought a 55 Chevy, for $1800.00. In those days a three year term was about as long as you could get, so $50 + finance charges ... admittedly low % at the time compared to today. But the point being, it's all in perspective.
In the USA, a car is a top priority, even more so than your home. Reliable travel is very important, freedom of travel, a constitutional right.
AAA needs to write an article on the number of unnecessary automotive repairs that 1 in 3 Americans don't need that they pay for anyway.
The point isn't car repairs. The point is that many Americans don't have an extra $500 budgeted for the unexpected.
You will see things in poor neighborhoods that don't seem to make a lot of financial sense. Fancy cars parked in the driveways of rundown houses and poor folks carrying expensive luxury goods like Louie Vuitton bags. People spending money on depreciating goods instead of real estate that likely could go up in value over time and build wealth for their family and heirs.
It's part of a mindset that keeps the poor poor.
You will see things in poor neighborhoods that don't seem to make a lot of financial sense. Fancy cars parked in the driveways of rundown houses and poor folks carrying expensive luxury goods like Louie Vuitton bags. People spending money on depreciating goods instead of real estate that likely could go up in value over time and build wealth for their family and heirs.
It's part of a mindset that keeps the poor poor.
Absolutely true about the "mindset that keeps the poor poor". It also keeps the relatively well off poor, if we're going there. No financial education in school will do that.
On the other hand, I know some poor people who could run circles around the middle class when it comes to knowing how to live on a cash budget. Starting with having a budget. Low income neighbourhoods might have crime issues ... 20% of a population can cause a lot of havoc ... but the other 80% who manage to lead long lives without breaking into cars at night know a thing or two about financial management.
Let's face it, the new car loan is about the easiest credit you can get. If the job supports the payments, away you go. That can be the building block to good credit in the future, which does actually get you a house if you are shrewd enough to make it work. Method to the madness, so to speak. When you have few options, you take the ones available to you and go from there.
On the other hand, I know some poor people who could run circles around the middle class when it comes to knowing how to live on a cash budget. Starting with having a budget. Low income neighbourhoods might have crime issues ... 20% of a population can cause a lot of havoc ... but the other 80% who manage to lead long lives without breaking into cars at night know a thing or two about financial management.
Let's face it, the new car loan is about the easiest credit you can get. If the job supports the payments, away you go. That can be the building block to good credit in the future, which does actually get you a house if you are shrewd enough to make it work. Method to the madness, so to speak. When you have few options, you take the ones available to you and go from there.
Originally Posted By: splinter
Half of the population has below-average intelligence. Seems many 'educated' folks don't use logic too often, either.
Absolutely agree.
I had the ignition coil go out in my Explorer, and had to go grab another one when I was "lectured" by another customer about $72 being "too much money" for a repair on a 17 year old car. His advice was to "just get the Chinese one" for $26 and be done with it. He walked away when I told him to give me his number, so I can call him for a lift at 3 AM when the no-name Chinese coil failed. Coming from a guy with "Constancy" tires on his '16 Expedition, buying API SJ rated SAE 40 motor oil. Just because you're loaded doesn't mean you're successful in life, nor does it mean you're highly intelligent.
Half of the population has below-average intelligence. Seems many 'educated' folks don't use logic too often, either.
Absolutely agree.
I had the ignition coil go out in my Explorer, and had to go grab another one when I was "lectured" by another customer about $72 being "too much money" for a repair on a 17 year old car. His advice was to "just get the Chinese one" for $26 and be done with it. He walked away when I told him to give me his number, so I can call him for a lift at 3 AM when the no-name Chinese coil failed. Coming from a guy with "Constancy" tires on his '16 Expedition, buying API SJ rated SAE 40 motor oil. Just because you're loaded doesn't mean you're successful in life, nor does it mean you're highly intelligent.
Originally Posted By: Mr Nice
Some idiots can afford every new iPhone that comes out, big flat panel TV, cable or satellite with 200 channels.... but can't afford a car repair ?
A big ten four on that Mr.
NICE.
Some idiots can afford every new iPhone that comes out, big flat panel TV, cable or satellite with 200 channels.... but can't afford a car repair ?
A big ten four on that Mr.
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