I was going to mention the fact that the Aussie buck is actually worth something, nowadays, relative to the Yankee Greenback. Then I saw your last sentence.

The USA is drowning in cars. The prevailing mentality is to drive the hell out of them with minimum maintenance and trade at the first sign of trouble. As a result, we have a glut of both new and used cars, so prices are fairly cheap.

To most Americans cars have become throwaway appliances.

Duke