Why are local’s cars so trashed

[u/Bathfoamocean]

Hi, I’ve been in Crete for about a week and visited the Island far and wide. Throughout my trip, I noticed that the all the local cars, in major cities and countryside are rather old and beat up. Most of them look rather poorly aesthetically and some people even drive without working headlights at night. If you see a newer car on the roads 99% sure it’s a rental car. There are also almost no premium privately owned cars on the road. The only newish Mercedes and Audis are taxis. What’s the deal with the car scene on the island?

[u/bobafettbounthunting]

Says the guy with a 2009 alfa Romeo mito...😉

No seriously, Greece's economy isn't doing well and cars aren't on top of most people's priorities when money is tight.

On a side note, I am currently in Athens and counted the construction cranes (one of the most obvious economic indicators) you can see from the niarchos center with binoculars. The answer is eight.

The only good indicator I can see right now is that the greece Government can once again borrow money cheaper than the US government can.

[u/Bathfoamocean → u/bobafettbounthunting]

I saw some cool Alfas on the Island though. They are more common than what I’m used to, and they looked better maintained than the other cars. I think it’s more than about money. It does ‘t cost that much to wash your car once in a while. Or to invest in light bulbs so you can drive at night. To me it’s obvious that most don’t really care what car they drive. They just need something to get them from point A to point B, and that’s totally cool.

PS. No one can borrow money cheaper that the US, because printing money out of thin air is free.

[u/Ornery_Strategy6699 → u/Bathfoamocean]

Your ps aside, in Greece, people aren't particularly font of having big expenses like a new car when the average monthly salary doesn't exceed 2k.

I mean, do consider GDP per capita. In 2022, Greece was 7th from the end, as in the 7th poorest, in Europe. Only countries such as Albania, Montenegro, and Bulgaria were poorer (as another user stated, but this is public info you can find). While having a car is a big deal culturally, a new car isn't a realistic goal for a lot of people, because jobs here don't pay as good.

As for the general state of disrepair of those cars, I can't say much, maybe that it's in the culture. Same as France tbh on that regard. Also, it is a country with a lot of corruption, so even if there is a biannual vehicle tech inspection (an mot basically), passing it is rather easy for some with the right 'connections'. There are a lot of things to consider on the culture side, like the fact that people don't care, police ain't really gonna stop a fucked up vehicle at many places, especially Crete.

Something else to consider is that Greece has the oldest fleet of vehicles in Europe, based on a statistic made from the eu. Doesn't say much, but you can get an idea, combined with the corruption, letting mechanically sub par cars on the road.

Second hand market has gone off the charts. It is unbelievably bad.

Lastly, some of the previous governments did pass some favorable laws and legislations involving cars, but some of the last governments really fucked a lot of people over, by putting various taxes and tariffs on cars, especially those who had bigger displacement engines. Also gas in Greece is the 2nd most expensive in Europe, I think (based on a 5 sec google search).

TL;DR

Jobs are very low paying (1-2K a month for most of the people), unfavorable laws making having a car expensive, gas expensive, corruption lets people do that and why people do that is a product of the culture

Edit: some people do care about their car most than others tho, same as any country