Some truth here, and you do see this in home construction. My parents horrific Formica & linoleum 80s kitchen and hardwood floors still looks the same as they did when I was a child.

My new construction “luxury” condo had serious wear damage within 5 years. I’ll have to gut the kitchen and replace my faux wood floors while my parents place remains indestructible.

LOL at the “luxury” faux wood floors. I know the feeling, my previous condo was like that. The marketing is absurd these days.

I learned the hard way that if luxury is in the name, it’s not actually luxury.

I hate fake wood floors with a passion… they are so slippery they are fatal- I had a dog become paralyzed by slipping and breaking his neck, and an Ex break a foot falling on these. They are so hard they hurt your feet, look disgusting even when brand new, wear out quickly, and disintegrate if they get wet. They are a safety hazard and should be illegal.

That sounds awful.

Dryness is also an issue - we had a lot of people in the building who weren't keeping their units humid enough in winter end up with the planks warping significantly.

The other day my wife spilled, MAYBE 2-4oz of water MAX and took 1 minute to wipe it up.. next thing you know we had a plank warp a full half inch upwards. We had to place barbells on it for days while it dried out to remediate.

Oh and these idiotic faux wood plank floors are also what they put in the kitchen & laundry closet so water damage is basically guaranteed.

I have noticed traveling that in many other countries it is the norm to have some type of totally waterproof flooring in bathrooms, kitchens, etc. so that it can be simply hosed down, and the inevitable leaks don't destroy everything... but in the USA it is the norm to put flooring that cannot handle getting wet, right near or under appliances and fixtures that will inevitable frequently leak.

cost saving basically :/

For the initial builder... overall long term cost is much higher.

Where can I find a quality old car for practically free?

I’ve regularly bought and sold good running 70s/80s/early 90s Volvos and Mercedes for under $1000 (and sometimes under $100) on Craigslist and at auto auctions- close to their scrap metal value, yet these are vehicles that will last a million miles with regular maintenance.

Ironically, supply and demand can make something more reliable cheaper- these cars just don’t die, so there is too much supply and little demand.

For $8k you can get a ~20 year old Porsche or Audi with low mileage, that has been meticulously maintained, always stored indoors, and looks and drives like it did when new.

Getting a good deal on a used car requires some mechanical knowledge to identify a car that is going to be reliable. I look for cars previously owned by mechanically savvy people that have already spent the money to mitigate any known design flaws or potential issues on that particular model.

One point I wanted to add- an older car like this is fully depreciated, and will often increase in value if you manage to keep it in the same condition. Buying older cars- especially models with rarer desirable traits like a Turbo or manual transmission, I've often been able to drive them for years, and ultimately sell them with enough profit to recoup all of my purchase and parts costs.

There's a somewhat tongue in cheek book "Porsche Boxster: The Practically Free Sportscar" that makes a pretty solid case that if you but the right model of car right at the age where the price is lowest, it can appreciate enough to virtually cancel out the full ownership costs. Although for the math to work out you need basically not consider the cost of a garage to keep it looking nice, or your time to maintain it yourself. Which is, I think a fair point if you consider the car a hobby, and get joy from taking care of it.

Facebook marketplace or craigslist. $5k will net you something running with a solid motor and transmission. $500 will get you a project that'll eat a year or two of nights and weekends.