> I agree that this is a problem for a small percentage of peoople and I find it ignorant to playt down this issue.

Back when I was poor as an European I just commuted by bus. Then I bought my first car for the equivalent of 1600 Euros (in 2014 at that) and while I was saving 30 minutes on my commute daily, I was spending a lot on fuel and insurance.

The clanker lasted about a year before it started burning too much oil and making weird rattling noises from the engine. Long term the purchase alone was less then half of all expenses over the course of that year.

I don't believe it's reasonable to buy a 1000 Euro car if that's the only thing you can afford, because the expenses will just keep piling up.

Leasing of small cars for an affordable price got a lot more common the last x years, but if you have no option at all and you life in a small city, you might just need to have a car.

Even ifts the cheap car which you replace in 1-3 years