‘We spent $10,000 in four months’: how an emergency car repair can gut a US family’s finances

Flooding destroyed Gabriela Rangel’s car and pushed her to buy a used replacement engine, an unanticipated expense. Photograph: Courtesy Gabrielle Rangel

Cars are essential to everyday life for most Americans, and more than 75% of people use cars to commute every day according to the 2025 census. But emergency car costs can upend families financially.

Of 10 parents who joined a WhatsApp group to regularly chat with Guardian journalists, nearly every one said that an emergency car expense had left them struggling financially this year, if not decimating their savings. That’s a deeply American experience: most car owners spend more than $1,400 annually to keep their vehicles running, said the travel organization AAA, which also conducted research that found 64 million Americans go into debt to absorb these costs.