Wheelbarrow01:

 

My two cents would be that we know many low income families drive around in an old barely roadworthy gas guzzler because that is all they can afford. Something like a 6 cylinder Commodore or Falcon etc. They may have had the same car for 10 years or more.

 

They likely don't service it because it costs too much, or they do the bare minimum (maybe dad [or mom] does an oil change at home using generic oil & filters from the likes of Supercheap). 

 

They run the tyres down to minimum tread, then buy budget second hand replacements.

 

They don't bother with insurance (or only have 3rd party at best) as their $1000-$2000 clunker is not worth insuring - or because they simply can't afford it. But parts are cheap so if they ding it, they can buy a second hand indicator cluster or a window for a few bucks usually. If it breaks down, they usually have a mate who can work on it (or they watch DIY vids on youTube) because old cars are way less complex and therefore relatively easy to work on.

 

Now throw that family into a brand new or near new $35,000 car (or even a $20k car). Yes it's cheaper to buy with this magical subsidy, but can they afford the repayments? Can they afford the warranty servicing? Can they afford the insurance? If they can't afford the insurance and the car is in a fender bender, can they afford a $500 headlight or a $1500 windscreen? If it's written off and they default on the government lease payments, who picks up the tab? The +$75k salary brigade?

 

What I am saying is that an old gas guzzler may look expensive to run on the surface, but scratch a little deeper and it's actually very cheap "cash up front" motoring. Some low income families could be suckered into this scheme only to realise too late that it's actually a financial millstone around their neck.

 

It would probably also pay to remember that for every low income family who can't afford an efficient $20k car, there's probably another family who can afford it, but actively chooses not to waste their income financing a depreciating asset - even if it seems like a good deal.

 

As you indicated earlier in your post, an old "gas guzzler" is only cheap to run because of all the necessary things being ignored to use it. 

Just because $35k is the limit doesn't mean that they have to buy a $35k car (nor does it have to be new). At the moment there are plenty of Leaf options from $6k - if they do indeed get $10k for their trade in to the government then they could get a replacement EV for $0. Is a $10k Leaf suitable for everyone? No, they'll have around 80-100km of range so if frequent long distance driving is required then it's not going to work. However for the majority that are using their car predominantly to drop the kids off at school and get to and from work any Leaf is going to be more than adequate.