Where does this notion come from that wealthy people don't drive nice cars?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Go to any BMW dealership and if you stick around for more than an hour, you’ll see a ton of poor people haggling over the repairs over their BMW with slick/worn out tires. As my father used to say, just because you can buy the car doesn’t mean you can’t afford to own it.

Those aren’t poor people—- those are rich people. Not wanting to spend a dime is how they stay rich.

[Anonymous]

I don’t believe any of the people saying they’re rich and driving a 20 year old car.

Sure, I believe rich people are buying Subarus and Hondas. They might just not be into cars. The only reason to buy a luxury car is if you like it and you want to. But from a utilitarian perspective, there’s no reason. Personally, I just don’t want a bmw any more than I want a Toyota as long as the trim package is nice. I mostly care about how it feels to sit in it and weird stuff like if I like the seat controls.

But a 20 year old car is work! Taking cars in for maintenance is a pain. And it wouldn’t have CarPlay even. That makes no sense. Cheaper newish cars, yes. A 20 year old car you have to love or why bother.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Go to any BMW dealership and if you stick around for more than an hour, you’ll see a ton of poor people haggling over the repairs over their BMW with slick/worn out tires. As my father used to say, just because you can buy the car doesn’t mean you can’t afford to own it.

Those aren’t poor people—- those are rich people. Not wanting to spend a dime is how they stay rich.

Oh you sweet summer child. These are poor people. It’s as clear as day if you’ve spent any time in a BMW dealership.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Go to any BMW dealership and if you stick around for more than an hour, you’ll see a ton of poor people haggling over the repairs over their BMW with slick/worn out tires. As my father used to say, just because you can buy the car doesn’t mean you can’t afford to own it.

Those aren’t poor people—- those are rich people. Not wanting to spend a dime is how they stay rich.

Oh you sweet summer child. These are poor people. It’s as clear as day if you’ve spent any time in a BMW dealership.

NP - poor people do not use the dealership for car repairs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Go to any BMW dealership and if you stick around for more than an hour, you’ll see a ton of poor people haggling over the repairs over their BMW with slick/worn out tires. As my father used to say, just because you can buy the car doesn’t mean you can’t afford to own it.

Those aren’t poor people—- those are rich people. Not wanting to spend a dime is how they stay rich.

Oh you sweet summer child. These are poor people. It’s as clear as day if you’ve spent any time in a BMW dealership.

NP - poor people do not use the dealership for car repairs.

You’re right. I should’ve said lower middle class who can’t afford the maintenance on a BMW.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t believe any of the people saying they’re rich and driving a 20 year old car.

Sure, I believe rich people are buying Subarus and Hondas. They might just not be into cars. The only reason to buy a luxury car is if you like it and you want to. But from a utilitarian perspective, there’s no reason. Personally, I just don’t want a bmw any more than I want a Toyota as long as the trim package is nice. I mostly care about how it feels to sit in it and weird stuff like if I like the seat controls.

But a 20 year old car is work! Taking cars in for maintenance is a pain. And it wouldn’t have CarPlay even. That makes no sense. Cheaper newish cars, yes. A 20 year old car you have to love or why bother.

I agree with this. It is a pain looking after an old car. Plus cheap cars feel cheap to drive. I used to drive Toyotas and now have switched to a BMW. I am not super in to cars but it is so much more comfortable to drive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A new car is a bad investment. An overpriced car is silly. Wealthy know this.

And some wealthy people know it’s immaterial and don’t care. There is no way I’m ever going to drive a car out of warranty. I know it’s not a good use of money but when you have so much, who cares?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Go to any BMW dealership and if you stick around for more than an hour, you’ll see a ton of poor people haggling over the repairs over their BMW with slick/worn out tires. As my father used to say, just because you can buy the car doesn’t mean you can’t afford to own it.

Those aren’t poor people—- those are rich people. Not wanting to spend a dime is how they stay rich.

Oh you sweet summer child. These are poor people. It’s as clear as day if you’ve spent any time in a BMW dealership.

I drive a late model Mercedes, and the dealership waiting room definitely seems like it’s full of poor people. The people who drive new models get a loaner.

[Anonymous]

I can buy any car on the road and pay cash. But I just want my Honda Odyssey. Those sliding doors never disappoint. My kids get separate rows during road trips which means less fighting. And my parents always want to ride in my car with us instead of their 90k suv (that they conveniently only got in a 5 seater so we could never ride with them).

Honda if you’re listening- I want a rose gold Odyssey. I’d be first in line. Otherwise I don’t see any point in getting a new odyssey since mine is identical to the ones on the showroom floor.

[Anonymous]

Before MAGA it was fashionable for the wealthy to appear somewhat modest. No one drives cheap cars anymore. Besides, all the poor MAGAs in VA wouldn't get their welfare checks without the NoVA car taxes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Did you even read the millionaire next door? Most drive honda's. The poorest people I know drive "nicer" cars, the multimillionaires myself included drive honda's, toyota's, nissan's. Poorer people tend to fake the funk and think that they're fooling people.

Millionaire next door was not rich. Doing well but not rich. Not someone making a million it’s more a year. Those people do not drive Japanese cars except Lexus or minivans if the kids are that age.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t believe any of the people saying they’re rich and driving a 20 year old car.

Sure, I believe rich people are buying Subarus and Hondas. They might just not be into cars. The only reason to buy a luxury car is if you like it and you want to. But from a utilitarian perspective, there’s no reason. Personally, I just don’t want a bmw any more than I want a Toyota as long as the trim package is nice. I mostly care about how it feels to sit in it and weird stuff like if I like the seat controls.

But a 20 year old car is work! Taking cars in for maintenance is a pain. And it wouldn’t have CarPlay even. That makes no sense. Cheaper newish cars, yes. A 20 year old car you have to love or why bother.

I agree with this. It is a pain looking after an old car. Plus cheap cars feel cheap to drive. I used to drive Toyotas and now have switched to a BMW. I am not super in to cars but it is so much more comfortable to drive.

That's a good reason to buy one if you can afford it and you want to, but fwiw I drive both regularly and if you blindfolded me, I couldn't tell.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did you even read the millionaire next door? Most drive honda's. The poorest people I know drive "nicer" cars, the multimillionaires myself included drive honda's, toyota's, nissan's. Poorer people tend to fake the funk and think that they're fooling people.

Millionaire next door was not rich. Doing well but not rich. Not someone making a million it’s more a year. Those people do not drive Japanese cars except Lexus or minivans if the kids are that age.

This one does.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I guess I don't exist then. I am sure I am not the only person to drive a 20 year old entry-point Japanese sedan while my stock portfolio has ballooned to 20M. I think it depends on what sort of wealth you're talking about: if it comes from salary, and people are surrounded by others with the same salary, that's going to lead to visible signs of wealth. But if they made their money in a more discreet way and do not socialize with others who have that level of wealth (or who like them chose not to display it)... then it leads to driving a dinged up Corolla.

Can you even access that money without major tax implications?

This is a question a poor person would ask.

Why? If you have 20M in a brokerage account and want to buy a car with cash, then you'd have to liquidate some portion, which would trigger a tax event. Sure, you could take out a loan, or do some fancy accounting where you live off of loans instead of ever liquidating anything. But usually the person who has been fortunate to buy stock 30 years ago that is now worth 20M vs old money set up in trusts, they aren't generally doing that.

We have a little more than that but yes we took $50k out to buy a car and yes we pay the tax. We don’t buy luxury brands, there’s no need to, there are plenty of mid-priced cars that are more reliable.

[Anonymous]

These threads are hilarious. The circle jerk of “old money drives beater Hondas” is quintessential dcum.