Poor people often receive an enormous amount of value from owning a car in the form of optionality, which is why the vast majority own one. It is one of the onl

Poor people often receive an enormous amount of value from owning a car in the form of optionality, which is why the vast majority own one. It is one of the only sources of economic optionality a poor person has. Even if they don't need a car, they often choose to own one (the cheapest one they can find that is vaguely reliable).