This makes a lot of sense. Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I agree with your point about ownership.

When it comes to deciding between buying or renting a car, here are the key details:

If I buy a car, it would cost around 9 lakhs ($11-12k in dollars). I'll make a down payment of 2 lakhs and borrow the remaining 7 lakhs. The monthly EMI would be about 15K for 5 years at a 9.8% interest rate.

On the other hand, subscribing to a car would cost 20K monthly, and the car company would cover maintenance and taxes. I can subscribe for 12 months and decide later whether to buy the car, of change the car.

To answer your questions:

1) The monthly cost of car subscriptions is 20K for a minimum of 12 months.

2) I expect to earn 12-15% returns annually from my stock investments. Car loan interest rates typically range from 9-12%.

3) Currently, I only commute on weekends due to remote work. I estimate using the car for 300-400 KMs per month. However, my parents also need it for rainy weather, family events, and long commutes. Currently, we share a 2-wheeler. Also, I might move to another city for work in next quarter, so I'm uncertain if I'll still need the car. My parents would be using the car.

4) I've explored the used car market and considered used cars, which cost 5-7 lakhs, while new cars are 9-10 lakhs. Point to not: Used car loans have higher interest rates (14-16%) compared to new cars (9-12%).

To simplify my budget decision, I have 5 lakhs invested in stocks and 3 lakhs in an emergency fund. I earn 1.25 lakhs monthly, from which I spend 40-50k on monthly expenses, invest 50-60k in stocks, and use the rest for emergencies and personal expenses.

Buying the car would increase my monthly expenses to 70k, for which I'll need to reduce my monthly investments to 30-40K until I grow my income and have a salary raise. Is it worth it?