> maybe even more
Average new car sale price at the end of 2021: $47,077
Average monthly household income at the end of 2021: $5,307
Even highly paid FAANG engineers are probably spending a few months income on a new car.
Average new car sale price at the end of 2021: $47,077
Average monthly household income at the end of 2021: $5,307
Even highly paid FAANG engineers are probably spending a few months income on a new car.
In any case, she actually had a nice income if should could have bought a new car with 3 month income only. She just didn't have a real need for it. The story should have been not so much about her but that most other people were much poorer than today and had to work as maids to survive.
* No heater * No air conditioning/cooling * No radio/CD/Bluetooth/Carplay/Android Auto * No speakers, let alone not 6 or 8 speakers that some cars have * No heated and cooled seats * No power mirrors * No power seats * No power steering * No power brakes (!!) * No ABS brakes or traction control * No self-driving capabilities, blind spot detection, automatic lane change, "smart" cruise control or any cruise control at all * No rear defrost * Not even a dome light! * No power windows * No power locks * No all-wheel drive. In fact, it was mostly single-wheel drive! * No in-screen dash or touchscreen controls * No massage seats * No "slow close" doors * No door sill illumination * No turn signals (until later, that is)! * No seatbelts (or if there were, they crude early versions) * No meaningful safety mechanisms, like collapsible steering columns and automatic airbags, side impact airbags, and proper crumple/structure design * No in-car entertainment options for movies, etc. * No in-car navigation systems * No OBD diagnostics to let you know when you are running low on oil or other critical fluids
We could keep going ... but on the one hand, cars might cost "similar" or even more in today's standards, but they also DO so much more. Even if you said, well let's build the same vehicles they had then today, you couldn't. Government regulations force things like safety mechanisms that will cost more to deliver a final product.