I will say, part of that ignorance, apathy, and laziness is an intentional part of our existing society. You can't spend the time to research every single product you ever buy, because many are stuck working several job, basically everyone is juggling their work, family, and social life.

A couple months back, I tried putting some effort into finding a printer that had all of the qualifications I wanted.

• usb printing, no network needed

• laser

• color

• not a brand that will fuck you over (looking at you HP)

• within a reasonable budget of $300-$400

And such a product just doesn't exist. Brother comes close, but the market straight up isn't producing good things. So at the end of the day all I can do is either get shafted at the local print store, or suck it up and get an inferior product.

But going back to the OP, it's so much worse with cars because we have a car-centric society. You NEED a car in this place to have a normal life. Our cities and transportation have been intentionally designed to fuck over everyone not in a car.

So there is inelastic demand. The manufacturers can do whatever the fuck they want and get away with it.