Why are rich people, especially rich "soccer" moms so obsessed with...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are you sure she was raised affluent? IMO, the people who are the most concerned about things like this are the ones who weren't raised wealthy and have something to "prove."

+1. Definitely new money not old money

+100 It screams I am insecure about how others view me.

For sure. Old money is driving a 15 year old Volvo.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:1. Driving a spotless, freshly-detailed car.
2. Refusing to drive a car with any physical damage, no matter how minor.

Example. We had friends over last night and the husband was teasing his wife for refusing to drive her SUV until he got it fixed because it had a huge scratch on it. You can tell she was raised in an affluent setting, very hoity-toity. It's not just her though, I remember hearing similar from my well-to-do grandmother about "not being caught dead" in a dirty or damaged car. And in the lineup at my children's private school, the cars are generally sparkling clean with glossy tires, and have no damage.

Where does this come from? Like they have a perception that dirty and/or dinged up cars are seen as low class?

Why would you have a damaged car? Accidents, bad driving, etc.

I don't associate having a clean car free of damages with Richness.

A dirty car is just gross. Period. If you have a dirty car, you probably have a dirty home.

I think you need to Pick better friends!

You don't know that the cars at the private school pick up are sparkling clean. What we can assume is that those cars are newer. With more discretionary income those cars probably do go through a car wash more often than the population with significantly less money. The newer cars look better even if they've been driven through a muddy corn field.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not fixing car damage, even if it's minor, is something you do when you don't have insurance and/or are too poor to afford it. It also looks irresponsible and sloppy/trashy.

Or it means you live in a dense or urban(ish) area where dings and dents are common. And you likely walk a lot so your car just isn’t some huge priority. Maybe you care about this sort of thing if you need to schlep yourself all around your exurb and worry about keeping your vehicle protected in your McMansion garage.[/quote

or you live in a snowy part of the country.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Drive by a sketchy apartment complex or seedy neighborhood and you’ll see most lower class keep their cars in filthy and crummy beat up condition. Meticulously clean luxury cars and giant new SUVs is a rich Type A thing to signal their class and make it crystal clear they're not a member of the unwashed (no pun intended). And it’s also relatively expensive to keep a giant SUV freshly detailed. Figure at least $20-30 per deluxe cash wash, not including any wheels, interior and waxing, which can cost upwards of $150-200.

You aren't making the point. Poor people have a hard time affording new cars and maintaining their old cars. This does not mean people with money are obsessed with making their cars look brand new. New cars look better even if they aren't cleaned regularly. Only the car nuts that I know spend a lot of getting their cars detailed often. The rest of us do it a few times a year.

[Anonymous]

Stylish rich private school mums are not driving filthy and dinged up cars. It's a whole aesthetic to drive some pretty luxury SUV.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Driving a filthy dinged up car makes you a target for profiling cops. Drug addicts and drivers with lapsed insurance and suspended licenses tend to drive filthy damaged cars.

...and DUIs.

You think moms with dirty minivans with crushed up goldfish and a pile of sports gear are getting profiled?

I have 3 kids who are in a lot of activities. Our minivan is often from ski trips or travel sports gear or our dog coming along with us on trips.

My car is a device to live our lives. People who are stupidly precious about a utilitarian device are strange. I wouldn’t even notice a scratch or dent.

If you drive a filthy minivan with junk food on the floor and under the seats I'm assuming you're a trashy low class person.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are you sure she was raised affluent? IMO, the people who are the most concerned about things like this are the ones who weren't raised wealthy and have something to "prove."

+1

[Anonymous]

I don't know if this is considered rich, but I make about $2m per year and drive a slightly dented (in one spot), smelly, 13-year old Rav4.

I'm kind of embarrassed of it and kind of love it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't know if this is considered rich, but I make about $2m per year and drive a slightly dented (in one spot), smelly, 13-year old Rav4.

I'm kind of embarrassed of it and kind of love it.

You don't know if you're considered rich at $2m/year?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are you sure she was raised affluent? IMO, the people who are the most concerned about things like this are the ones who weren't raised wealthy and have something to "prove."

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are you sure she was raised affluent? IMO, the people who are the most concerned about things like this are the ones who weren't raised wealthy and have something to "prove."

+1. Definitely new money not old money

+100 It screams I am insecure about how others view me.

For sure. Old money is driving a 15 year old Volvo.

...or an F-150. Read "The Millionaire
Next Door"...

[Anonymous]

They can't be rich if they have to drive themselves. Rich people have their own chauffeur.

[Anonymous]

We pay 70/month for unlimited inside+outside washes at the Flagship on Wisconsin. The washes are individually 30-40 each so it makes sense if you get your car cleaned at least twice a month.

I like cleanliness, we park on the street in DC, kids get our car messy, and we have an AGI
of ~610k. Call us new money if you want.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We pay 70/month for unlimited inside+outside washes at the Flagship on Wisconsin. The washes are individually 30-40 each so it makes sense if you get your car cleaned at least twice a month.

I like cleanliness, we park on the street in DC, kids get our car messy, and we have an AGI
of ~610k. Call us new money if you want.

You have to park on the street? Ugh.

[Anonymous]

New money problems.