Owning a car today has been so expensive it blows my mind why a lot of Filipinos are still willing to own multiple ones or trade up. I understand that mobility in the country hasn’t changed much since the 1990’s, I’d argue it regressed when compared to our neighboring countries.
My 11 years old car was showing its age and wasn’t financially sensible for me to own anymore so I sold it. I tried buying a new economy hybrid car which didn’t end well for me. I also tried other traditional brands like Honda, and Toyota which weren’t financially sensible for me as well. The initially acquisition is suspiciously friction-less only for the buyer to be mired in fees and debt. On average I’ll end up paying 30% of the price of the vehicle’s sticker price just on interest alone, even at their lowest term of 24 months; that doesn’t even include the other expenses that come with a new car purchase. Buying it up front makes the most sense in my situation but I can’t bring myself to spend more than 1 million pesos on a depreciating asset.
TLDR: I ended up getting a used one again, which introduces its own set of challenges. But in my calculus of life it was the lesser evil given my options. At the end of the day, it was a painful decision. In an era of reusable rockets and self-driving cars it’s still so cumbersome to get around the country. I feel like the frog in a pot of boiling water… I’m aware the water is getting hotter, faster but I’m unable to jump out of the pot (and possibly into the fire). I am willing to take a chance though, like most of the sane people in my life.