I bought my first car with money I earned working a summer job for 500USD. Then I got my second car for free from the same lady because it didn't run. Me and my pops fixed it up and got it on the road.
These were, of course, complete gas guzzling shitboxes that required repair before they could function well. It wasn't until I went away to college that I had something halfway reliable, and that as at 18, and that car had a blown head gasket and needed a valvejob in order to run. It served me well though, ran for another 5 years before I traded it in.
Understand of course, a car in america is freedom and potential. It doesn't just represent that, it is that. America is very, very big and very very spread out compared to europe. That makes public transit an untenable option almost everywhere.
In a lot of places in the US a teenager without a car might as well be nailed to the floor.
If both parents are working, they can't do after-school activities or extracurriculars. Some can make it work by catching rides, but it's remarkably difficult.
I know this is insane, but that's the world we've got.
An automobile is basically a requirement to not starve anywhere outside the core of maybe 5 American cities with acceptable public transit. It's the same as having a pair of shoes.
As kids we biked everywhere living in a small town of about 7k. Everything we needed was only a few miles away. It was a nice place to grow up and quite the opposite of your 5 mega metros.
I know youre being sarcastic, but actually in a lot of places yes this is the norm.
Or a the very least someone in your friend group will get one so the whole crew is mobile.
Best regards,
Europe