In Argentina is very common to hitchhick, not only for backpackers travelling in a budget, also for local people: police, villages people, my 90 yo grandmother... hahaha.

My father told me that the car broke and my grandmother had to go to the following town in someone's else car in the middle of Patagonia (not the nice Patagonia that a tourist can imagine - the arid and dessertic Patagonia).

And yes, in 2005 and even now Argentina is very expensive. :(