Because every time I check on articles apparently “poor” people according to them are guys with 10000 euro ready to spend like that.
Also the apps for car buying seem broken, they only offer you totaled cars or cars that need serious work at low budgets.
Tbh, if you live in a city, I’d highly recommend getting a long tail e-bike from a reputable brand. It’s a fraction of the cost, even with all the super premium options, will go just as fast as a car through normal city traffic, can haul 98% of the things you’d normally need to haul (groceries, kids), and has much lower maintenance costs and no insurance premium.
Cars are totally out of control, have been for a few years, and it doesn’t seem like there’s an end in sight. Idk about motorcycles, I haven’t looked in years, but a decent motorcycle or scooter (think Vespa) might still be affordable.
I don’t know where you’re located, but looking at a new, plain-Jane Toyota Corolla in the US:
https://www.toyota.com/corolla/2024/
A 2024 new base Toyota Corolla has an MSRP of $22,050.
https://www.kbb.com/toyota/corolla/2004/
A 2004 new base Toyota Corolla had an MSRP of $14,220. In 2024 dollars, that 2004 Corolla cost $23,613.86. That is, the price for a new Corolla has slightly dropped in real terms over that period of time.
I mean, we can talk about a few things here, if you want, like how MSRP is basically meaningless as nobody follows it (because the market is tight enough and credit easy enough that they don’t feel compelled to), or how real purchasing power has declined significantly since 2004 because wages haven’t kept up with inflation and never really do.