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This is statement I take most exception to in the article. Here [1] is a ten-year-old Mercedes on Craiglist for $15K. You can run perfectly serviceable cars lik

by nthj 12y ago

This is statement I take most exception to in the article. Here [1] is a ten-year-old Mercedes on Craiglist for $15K. You can run perfectly serviceable cars like a 2003 Civic for $5-7K. Even if you immediately sock away $2K into a savings account for maintenance costs, and take sales tax into account, you still landed $5K cash overnight and probably have a lower insurance payment. Also, you would not be making payments on the car because, uh, you paid for it in cash with the money from selling the car. I'm extrapolating from incomplete data, of course, but I feel the article's statement deserved far more analysis than the 1-sentence glossover it received. [1] http://sanantonio.craigslist.org/ctd/4530142457.html http://sanantonio.craigslist.org/ctd/4530142457.html

hacknat 12y ago
It takes a tremendous amount of energy and time to sell a used luxury vehicle. BTW, just giving us a link to a Mercedes listed for $15k tells us nothing. We have no idea how long it's been listed or what the owner of the vehicle is willing to negotiate down to.
rayiner 12y ago
That's an E55 AMG, which new is a $100k car. Since the couple only made $120k before they lost their jobs, it's unlikely that is what they had. More likely, it was something like a C230 Kompressor, which ran ~$30k new.
garethsprice 12y ago
Cheap, aging used cars are a risky purchase if you don't have savings to pay for the inevitable repairs. Besides, once they had that cash in hand, they'd no longer be eligible for food stamps (you need to prove you have no savings or assets). They'd either have to stop collecting food stamps and burn up the excess capital on groceries, or commit welfare fraud. Being poor in America is rough. Regardless of the "but the poor still have cable TV!" argument, US culture (and the systems created by that culture) takes an almost punitive approach to poverty, where the poor are seen to deserve it and not be capable of making rational decisions.

by nthj 12y ago

hacknat 12y ago

It takes a tremendous amount of energy and time to sell a used luxury vehicle. BTW, just giving us a link to a Mercedes listed for $15k tells us nothing. We have no idea how long it's been listed or what the owner of the vehicle is willing to negotiate down to.

rayiner 12y ago

That's an E55 AMG, which new is a $100k car. Since the couple only made $120k before they lost their jobs, it's unlikely that is what they had. More likely, it was something like a C230 Kompressor, which ran ~$30k new.

garethsprice 12y ago

Cheap, aging used cars are a risky purchase if you don't have savings to pay for the inevitable repairs. Besides, once they had that cash in hand, they'd no longer be eligible for food stamps (you need to prove you have no savings or assets). They'd either have to stop collecting food stamps and burn up the excess capital on groceries, or commit welfare fraud. Being poor in America is rough. Regardless of the "but the poor still have cable TV!" argument, US culture (and the systems created by that culture) takes an almost punitive approach to poverty, where the poor are seen to deserve it and not be capable of making rational decisions.