Argentine Car Savings Plan Lottery

[oiram]

This was a topic last night at dinner. I also couldn't grasp the point of these schemes and people on the table suggested it was a way to force people to save money for cars and this lanacion article suggested it is a way to protect against inflation: http://www.lanacion.com.ar/1561554-planes-de-ahorro-para-autos-otra-forma-de-refugiar-pesos

In any case it was described to me more like an monthly auction than a lottery.

 

[mikic007]

This guys are doing everyone else big favour, when they are putting new cars on the road. Someone has to loose, that other can gain. If they would think through, they would spare dollars (if you could afford cuotas, you could also buy some dollars) and buy car directly cheaper, when it's time, and for sure they would loose less than now, when they are supporting agencies maintaining this plan. It's actually sad story, so common here...

 

[Gringoboy]

This was a topic last night at dinner. I also couldn't grasp the point of these schemes and people on the table suggested it was a way to force people to save money for cars and this lanacion article suggested it is a way to protect against inflation: http://www.lanacion....-refugiar-pesos

In any case it was described to me more like an monthly auction than a lottery.

Good point Oiram, but that's a rather typical LN article of the time, IE March 2013.
I don't see how it can be a hedge against inflation when the price of the car isn't fixed but rises with inflation instead. In the case I mentioned Ford was simply upping the monthly payments to reflect the current market price of the car. Four years into a plan and you´re paying four times what you started paying???
Used cars have real value here for all the reasons mentioned here in these pages. Heck, even motorbikes too. I bought my first bike in 2009 for $6000 and sold it to buy another in 2014 for $14,000 when I bought a bigger bike for $33,000 which now has a value of $50,000.
In ten years we've also bought three cars but always with cash and always sold privately rather than PX.
More than most countries, Argentina is shark infested.

 

[ElQueso]

Yeah the only hedge against inflation is for the car companies, not the buyer (or lottery player, as the case may be).