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

A $1,000 fix is out of reach for many Americans – and so is good public transportation

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.

When disaster strikes

On 18 September, Gabriela Rangel looked out her window in California City, California. It had been raining throughout the day and showed no signs of stopping, but she needed to go pick up her five-year-old son, Rayo, from school. The streets were covered in muddy sheets of water, but as she pulled out of her driveway she could still see the gravel underneath. She was only two blocks from the school when she hit a dip in the dirt road and water flooded into her engine, stalling out her vehicle and destroying her only mode of transportation.

“This year, I had tires blow out, battery failure and my engine ruined in a flash flood. But I can’t afford a different car, so I opted to replace it with a used engine,” Rangel said.

Since the pandemic, used-car prices have surged, so she went without a car for more than two months as she and her mechanic searched for the most cost-effective options.

“Now my car is finally back from the shop … My son was so ’CITED to have his blue car back,” Rangel said. “That’s my Thanksgiving and Christmas right there.”

Another parent, Rene Mayhorn Williams, has three young daughters, who all need to go to different locations for their schools and daycares. He was sharing one car with his wife to do the pickups when disaster struck. The car lost its transmission, and mechanics said it couldn’t be fixed for six months, forcing the family to buy a new car. The mechanic then said their first car actually could be fixed in six weeks.

“We spent about $10,000 in cars within four months, which shook up our entire financial health,” Williams said. He said they are now rebuilding their savings, although it is more convenient to have the extra car for their kid’s pickups and drop-offs.

Each affected parent shared that they had spent at least $1,500 on car repairs that year. Jennifer Wilson, a single mom to a five-year-old, said this year alone she spent $4,500 on car repairs, on top of $170 per month on insurance and $45 per week on gas.

Chris Cuzul also had a car go out on him this year and said he felt “lucky” to only have spent $2,000-$3,000 on repairs. But Cuzul observed that every part of car ownership has become more expensive. He said: “I travel daily for work. Vehicle expenses have doubled. Gas, tires and maintenance costs are only going up.”

Buses and public transport aren’t an option

Almost all of the parents shared that they couldn’t use public transit for taking kids to school, getting to work or even running errands. In their areas, there was no reliable and convenient access to public buses or school buses.

Isabel Hernandez has three daughters and works nights at an Amazon facility in San Bernardino, California. She works until 12.30am or later, drives home and then wakes up before 7am to take her daughters to three different schools.

“I would really love some extra sleep in the mornings,” she said over WhatsApp. She expressed her frustration that school buses weren’t an option for any of her daughters, aged 6-17.

Because Hernandez elected for her daughter Natalia to go to a “lottery” school that has more resources than the school in their neighborhood, Natalia is ineligible for busing.

It’s an issue for many other parents in the community. Rangel’s son could theoretically take the bus to kindergarten, but it’s not a practical option. “The school bus stop is even further from my house than the school is,” she said.

Budget hits before the holidays

Many of the parents pointed to car repairs as their biggest expenses when we asked about how they were feeling about their budgets before the holidays. One parent put off a trip to see family in Pittsburgh for Thanksgiving due to unexpected repairs.

Alyssa Yosten, mother to two kids under four years old, said: “I just can’t win.” Over Thanksgiving, her car couldn’t pass a smog inspection, and then the tires blew out on her husband’s car. Their savings will go toward a new set, which leaves them with not much extra to spend on Christmas.

“This year is much more of a struggle. My family has decided to only give presents to the little ones and skip gifts with the adults,” Yosten said.

Hernandez and her family are also working with a tight budget for Christmas, but said she planned to keep holiday magic alive for her daughters in spite of not having extra money for big gifts or trips.

“I know that the little things like decorating cookies, building our gingerbread house, drinking hot chocolate with pan and looking for our elves make my girls smile. Those are the memories that they will remember,” she said.