Like any machine, cars require maintenance. If you can't afford gas, oil changes, tires when needed, factory services....then no, you're not ready for a car.

The whole point of maintenance is this:

1. Spend a little upfront to save more, over time. Don't change the oil in a timely manner? $30-$35 a few times a year? The result: Damaged or permanently trashed engine: Cost: $XXXX.00 Don't attend to the coolant? Again, $35-$50 DIY, good for at least three years. The result of not DIYing this service: Damaged engine. Cost: $XXXX.00) And so forth.

2. Risk Reduction: A properly maintained vehicle is safer, less prone to accidents, less risky to drive, all other things being equal. 

3. Here's the thing: All transportation has costs. Most of the folks, such as myself, want to keep cars longer, and drive down the cost of ownership. The way to do that is via preventive maintenance, DIY-style. Given that labor in a mechanic's shop is $100/hr PLUS per hour, anything we can do ourselves (and often it's fairly simple procedures, given the right tools and instruction) saves that labor cost. And, because it's our vehicle, we tend to take the time necessary to do it right, rather than a sloppy or even unnecessary job that can do more harm than good (from quik lubes to shops that lack a good diagnostic ethos). 

If you're not the richest person (and neither am I), the best thing to do is to learn how to "get more from less" (more dependability, more service, less cost) by understanding what maintenance needs to be done, and to do it yourself.

So, we do spend on preventive maintenance, rather than "running to fail" a vehicle. It's an embodiment of an old aphorism: "Don't be penny wise and dollar foolish." That could be the motto of this forum, at least in part, IMHO. 

If you are not willing to do the bare minimum maintenance like tires, brakes, engine oil change and transmission fluid change, gasoline, coolant change, look under the hood and inspect every now and then, check tire pressures once a month, etc., then you are not ready to own a vehicle.  Sure, people still own cars and don’t do some (or most) of these things but they also have issues sooner rather than later.  And if they didn’t have the money before to perform those maintenance items, they most likely won’t have the money to perform the repairs now.  You don’t need to be rich to maintain a car;  also you should pick the right car in the first place so that the maintenance costs are lower (e.g. Toyota Camry vs. BMW 5-Series;  Inline-4 engine vs V8).

Until I got my car I used my feet, buses, trains ... yes, it takes more time. And I am not a rich person too.

Some cars are more tolerant of neglect than others but they'll all ultimately fall apart if not maintained.

Correct

Where I live we have an annual safety inspection as well as an emission inspection. It would be hard to put off maintenance for very long and pass inspection.