Newsflash – cars are expensive

Motortrend reports that the average American spends more of their disposable income on cars than anything else with the exception of food and housing. Those with a habit of driving smaller cars will spend over $240k (vehicle purchases, fuel, insurance, maintenance, taxes/fees) in their expected driving lifetimes while folks with a taste for larger autos are expected to spend nearly $350k. This may come across as a shock to your average consumer, but it gave the missus something else to shriek hysterically about after she confused my auto-modification-purchases-to-date spreadsheet with my proposed-military-spending-for-Uganda-2006 spreadsheet.