I am a car nut, and I'm happy to live in the US where I can afford fun cars that I would not be able to afford in other places. However, I also see quite a bit

I am a car nut, and I'm happy to live in the US where I can afford fun cars that I would not be able to afford in other places. However, I also see quite a bit of logic in this. It increases not just the COST of a car, but the value as well. Now your car doesn't depreciate as fast, which makes repairs seem more reasonable. The resale value is higher. People buy more used cars, repair them, and keep them on the road. In the end, the "cost" of just throwing a car on the scrap heap (okay, dismantling and scavanging for parts/melting down metal, etc) is much higher. There are really some great consequences to this.