I guess I don't want to belabor this too much, and maybe this tags me as an old geezer, but I have personally known families with children, who only owned one automobile. One person can drive the other person to work, and then drive the car around for the rest of the day, and then pick them up after work. Of course we don't know their particular details, like maybe they've got a 50 mile one way commute (which in itself would be crazy for a $25k/yr job).
2 children, just born, underweight. So really, let's just disturb them twice a day so Dad can take Mom to work and home again. Oh, and this is 2008/2009 when lots of people were truly happy to have any job, especially after one of their two incomes just disappeared unexpectedly (layoff, not firing). Mom can't take the car to work herself because Dad might need it for errands or medical issues with the kids. They owned the Mercedes (and no debt was mentioned for the unreliable Honda). Why sell assets that are paying for themselves in terms of actual money (getting her to work), and relieving emotional/financial stress (confidence that they aren't totally fucked if one car fails).
maybe they've got a 50 mile one way commute (which in itself would be crazy for a $25k/yr job).
There are many people here in Minnesota who drive comparable distances to make less money. When you live in the sticks and the closest job is a gas station 30 miles away that pays minimum wage, you're pretty much screwed.
