I am thinking about saving money with the specific intention to buy a car as I don’t own my own set of wheels. I am temporarily borrowing my father’s old car, which is lovely to drive from A to B, but it’s not mine and he wants his car back in about a year.

It seems natural that when people start earning a salary their first big purchase is a car. At this stage, though, I’m not earning enough for the banks to even consider me for a loan. But there is hope: I am a university graduate, which puts me in the top percentile of SA’s skilled workforce.

But should we all really be saving to buy cars? We’ve heard it all before: global warming, peak oil, petrol price increases…

Just some of the hidden costs to buying a car and keeping it in good condition include:
General service once a year;
Roadworthy testing;
Licensing the car in your name;
Car wash fees or car shampoo and polish;
Car guard tips;
Parking lot fees;
Traffic fines;
Oil;
Anti-freeze;
Mechanic fees;
Tow truck fees; and
New parts.

All this in addition to monthly car instalments, petrol and insurance.

Do you really want to get into a large amount of debt paying off a metal monster that chews up more money than you can afford to feed and spews out more pollution than your eco friendly conscience can deal with? No. I don’t want to drive a car that I cannot afford along a road called indefinite debt.

But it’s not that straightforward. The problem is that time is precious and we all want mobility to go where we want to go. Public transport isn’t reliable enough for me to see it as a viable alternative to buying a car. For one thing, it doesn’t operate at night and if it did, would it be safe? I can only wish that one day it’ll be different.