How do you buy a car? What does it cost? Watch the children, now. I wonder how much for this one?
– John Steinbeck
The Grapes of Wrath, Chapter 7. The migrant farmers, in desperate need of transport west, show their vulnerability and cluelessness when it comes to buying a car. It makes them easy prey for fast-talking used car salesmen looking to make a killing by selling them barely roadworthy jalopies.