>>18122263I realized that too. I reckon it is because German people are quite conservatives when it comes to finances. At best they want to pay for everything in cash and not think about it anymore, whereas US-Americans tend to do a lot more financial gymnastics. 47% (p. 33
https://ssl.bfach.de/media/file/50761.Market_Study_2022_Consumer-Vehicle-Financing_BFACH.pdf) of all new cars and 27 % of all used cars are financed in Germany, in the US that number is 85% and 53% (
https://pirg.org/resources/driving-into-debt-2/).
I think driving a beater car in the US is also more stigmatized than in Germany.