2013 Corolla comes with 5-speed manual option, at base.

I could buy a car for $5k to get me to/from work, or a car for $100k to also get me to/from work.

Assuming both are reliable, what's the difference other than class/comfort/social statement/etc.? So, yes, if you want to compare "a car" vs. "public transit" vs. "no way at all to get around", it is an "investment", but I think it's pretty obvious that what I was referring to was buying a high end car when you only need to get from a-to-b and a cheaper car would do.

I'm not arguing against using money to enjoy life; I am a strong supporter of dying with $0 to your name.

That said, it's become common in North American lifestyle that a $500/mo car expense is both expected, and normal, and people take it on in lieu of saving for retirement, or having a disposable income for things they want (and then use credit to get those things anyways).

As I said in an above post, if you truly can afford a $60k car, then you can afford to pay cash for it upfront, and not care about it, because you have enough money to replace it easily. That's the marker of being able to afford a car at a particular price. If losing your job means you're going to go broke in 2 months because of your car payments, you can't afford it.

That's great, the net >$500/mo... what about rent/mortgage + food + disposable income + savings for retirement + bills? Oh wait, who saves for retirement anymore.

A $500/mo car payment is not a requirement, that is all I'm getting at. If you can afford a $60k car, then you should be able to afford to pay for it with cash. And, you should have enough money that you don't care if the car gets scratched, or otherwise damaged, because you can easily replace it.

The $16k car I bought included heated seats..

And I'm not arguing "if you can afford it", but the majority of people cannot, and when they look at their "needed $500/mo car expense" and then wonder why they are having trouble making ends meet, it's ridiculous.

According to this article from 2012, the average purchase price of a new car was $30,748 and increasing.

Seeing as that's about half the MSRP, I suppose it's not totally out of reach.

Personally I have no idea why people spend this kind of money on a car. My last brand new car (I don't usually buy brand new, but they had a lot of incentives) was about $16k (cdn), and I considered that a lot. A car is not an investment.....

From wikipedia: The last fatal accident, Korean Air Cargo Flight 8509 in December 1999 led to a review of how Korean cultural attitudes had contributed to its poor crash history. Following the review, Korean Airlines began hiring predominantly Western pilots and since that time safety has greatly improved, and the airline ranks among the best in the 21st century..

It's good they solved it, though it's kind of funny the solution was to hire western pilots..

Pretty sure this is how it went.

:)

Don't they spend a lot of money tracking foreigners? I think you divided by the US population.. but really you should divide by the entire world's population.

Maybe in America you can't get a bank account without photo ID, but in Canada there's an old law that mandates you must be able to get a basic account with no photo ID. Now, if you actually try, banks will make a fuss, but it is possible.

I'm sure this has been said before, but we probably won't come run out. It will just become increasingly expensive, until the point that other renewable energy becomes more attractive. As per the last 2 "oil ceilings" around $120 (one of many examples) WTI (or was it Brent? I can't remember), it would seem that currently energy prices for trucks, planes, and consumers can't support >$120 price.

So basically, this problem is going to solve itself, and we won't run out of oil, because we will (mostly) stop digging for it when it's too expensive, and use something else.

The only risk is that energy companies take the profits from oil and re-invest it in making cheaper drilling techniques instead of alternative energy, and then we really do run out before we can use oil to find an alternative (since most certainly any research is going to require it). But that's pretty unlikely, considering "oil" companies are already investing in alternative energy to become "energy" companies.

Looks like another one here that is a little better: http://vine.co/v/bFdt5uwg6JZ.

Here's a video of the actual explosion: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUsu-yoIzq8.

Doesn't look good..