Cost of ownership across the US varies pretty widely depending on the local and state regulations and laws, but I'm sure nowhere in the US is as ridiculous as Greece! I pay about $100 a year for tag/registration fees, $600 a year for full coverage insurance and 93 octane gas is just over $4 a gallon last time I filled up. In the area where I live, the average price for AP1s is about $10,000-$15,000 and AP2s range anywhere from about $14,000-$21,000 on average depending on year/mileage/condition.
I'm assuming when you guys overseas are stating your "salary" you are referring to weekly pay, also is that gross or net income? European countries tend to tax income more heavily than the US (largely due to the govt regulated healthcare)."Salary" is most often expressed in annual income in the US, so $600-1,000 would be terrible .

 

As usual for an American I am confused. Do you Europeans quote salary as a weekly/biweekly/monthly/yearly value?

 

Haha, I asked the same thing right before your post. I'm guessing they are referring to weekly or bi-weekly because $600-1,000 would certainly be less than what they make in a year.

 

That's $11.1k/year and $15.7k - $23.5k/year, so it seems like those are monthly numbers.

 

Saki, you live in Raleigh as well?

It is very unfortunate that it costs so much to own a nice vehicle in most countries. But I don't just view myself as lucky for being in America. I view you foreigners as unlucky for having some overbearing governments. It's not right for them to be so controlling of your lives. That's the price you pay for (in most cases) socialist governments.

As for me, here in Raleigh, NC I pay...

-around $35 for annual vehicle registration
-$30 for annual vehicle safety & emissions inspection
-$900/year for full insurance coverage (including $0 deductible for glass/vandalism and $250 for collision)
-$205/year for vehicle property tax
-$800/set of tires which I replace every 18-24 months
-$60 for 2 oil changes per year (Mobil 1, changed by myself)

 

Interesting, that same link confirms that salaries are quoted in net pay so that answers my other question. I can't imagine owning a car like the s2k with all of those taxes/fees and only clearing $15.7-23.5k a year... I can see why the cheap, tiny cars with small engines are so popular in European countries.

 

monthly, unfortunately the regular salary: 600$ per month,....

now think about this prices lol

Obviously there are people here who receive way better,...i am getting "clean" 1370euros =~1,7k $ / month
which here is a really decent salary here,...

 

24 and live in Utah but registered in Washington.
06 ap2
Full coverage $950yr
Registration $42
Inspection/emissions is not required
Gas (fun car, not dd) $40 a month
Haven't gotten tires yet but would expect 2-3 years from them for $800 a set.

So glad I live in the states for car ownership.

 

Nice topic you started here Uma but we are making the world sad.

I feel even worst after reading souforte's post about taxation/prices/salary in Portugal tho

When we Europeans give salary numbers we refer to monthly and gross figures.
When Souforte said "clean" he meant net salary after tax and all.

Also when we say 98 it is RON and not AKI. 98 octane fuel is available in most European countries and its the highest available (compared to Asia where you can find 112 octane petrol at normal petrol stations).

Fuel prices are just insane here in Greece at the moment and at Portugal also from what i read. You used to be able to have the s2k for a daily driver back in 2008 (thats when i bought mine) but now, on an pretty normal salary of 1400$/month net thats is just out of the question.
After fuel price has gone that high - traffic congestion on the main roads has been greatly decreased. (thats one good thing that has come out of all this )

To move out of the country tho is not that easy. And from what you read its not that much different in most European countries also. Migrating to the US is not an easy thing to do altho a lot of the times we guys read about your legislation, your taxes, you fuel prices etc we get a little envy

Health system is a whole other discussion. From what i know you guys may pay A LOT if you ever need to check in to a hospital or such. Whereas here in Greece we have lot of taxes on our wages, monthly just for that. We have quite a lot of our health costs covered by the government if ever needed to.

UK is far far better on that sector tho as i have been a UK student for 3 years and have received great medical care at no cost at all

To return to the OP's post...

owning an s2k is silly money here in Greece but there is always worse. Its considered a luxury item and its being treated as such...

Maybe it should...