[Xist]

Why do I always have to be the smart one?! :P
Let's say they buy a $30,000 car every four years and then let their child drive it.
30 / 4 = 7.5
$30,000 * 7.5 = $225,000
So, they may be spending more on cars while they are paying off their mortgage, but while they eventually pay off the house, they keep purchasing new cars.
Of course, Robert Kiosaki might actually be right about people never paying off their house and selling it to purchase a bigger one to fit more stuff.
1. 1987 Honda Prelude Si $2,500. Lasted 4 years
2. 1990 Honda Accord $2,800. Lasted a couple of years until I hit an elk driving home from my parents' house.
3. 2003 Ford Focus with 250,000 miles Dad sold me for $3,000 on a payment plan I never followed. He never harassed me for money, asked for interest, or anything. I paid it off soon after joining the Army. I drove that for three months before a pickup totaled it and their insurance bought me:
4. 1997 Nissan Altima. My sister sold it for me when I joined the Army.
5. 2007 Ford Focus Dad sold me for $5,000 cash I earned in the Army. A Harley totalled it three weeks later and insurance paid all but $600 of:
6. 1999 Subaru Forester. Sold after three years for $2,700.
7. 2000 Honda Civic HX for $2,800. Have driven for over four years and 50,000 miles.
8. 1999 Honda Accord for $250. Have driven 20,000 miles in just over a year.

$14,000 (minus what my sister got for my Altima) for eight cars and seventeen years. The Celiac Kid said that when you purchase a used car, you pay for a new car in repairs. Repairing the Prelude was always cheaper than purchasing another car until the transmission went out, but something happened at the end, and I kept having mechanics tell me that there was only one thing wrong, once I paid for that repair, everything would be good. Oh, hey, while we fixed that, we found this other thing...

I think I paid purchase price in repairs the last few months.

Then there was the Subaru, which seemed like it was the least reliable vehicle I have ever owned, but I have not paid $16,000 in repairs in seventeen years, so I have not spend $30,000 on cars yet.

Fun fact: Let's say I financed a 2000 Civic HX when it was new. I would have spent $14,000 for the car, a fraction as much in repairs, and excluding collisions, might still be driving the same vehicle!

If I could have dodged the elk, pickup, and Harley...