4 ms·
Car ownership can only be financially ruinous if you value your time at no cost. I live in a city with excellent public transport, and still, purchase of a car
by ferongr 7y ago
Car ownership can only be financially ruinous if you value your time at no cost.
I live in a city with excellent public transport, and still, purchase of a car really improved my quality of life. Instead of 45-60 minutes using public transport, I can get to my dad's house with 13 minutes of driving. A recent example where I picked up a PC monitor from Samsung's service center and returned it to the store I bought it from for a replacement took 1 hour total instead 3 hours lugging the 27" monitor through public transport or spending two days worth of income on taxi rides.
The monthly TCO of my car amounts to around 4 times the cost of the public transports' monthly pass, and that doesn't account the money spent on taxis or ride hailing apps. I consider it worthwhile for the immense benefits I'm getting.
- repolfx 7y agoWe're talking about Americans who live paycheque to paycheque. Presumably their time actually is valued at close to no cost (by their employer). Nobody is arguing everyone should drive a cheap old car.