How are there so many $60, $70, $80+ thousand dollar cars on the road??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Audi A3 is $35k. Audi A4 is $45k.

OP here - I wasn't thinking the low end models like A3 or A4. FWIW, I'd much rather get a Rav4 than either of those. My general comment was that I see so many VERY expensive cars on the road and don't quite fathom how there are that many people buying such cars.

Many are probably stretching themselves thin, like many do for everything in life, to "keep up with the joneses"

Some are probably just fiscally smart. We were making only $250K and bought our first vehicle with cash for $40K at age 30. Once we did that, it was easy in 8 years for us to pay cash for a $55K vehicle (got $18K for the 8 yo car at CarMax)---you just keep saving $400-500/month in your "car fund" So basically budgeting and living within your means for everything and including savings for retirement, college and other stuff in your functioning budget

This is what we do. I make a "car payment" into a HYSA each month. We also pay for repairs and maintenance from that fund (but not gas or insurance). It's a budgeting/savings device, and allows us to not worry about vehicle costs. It helps that we are not car people - we buy new, and then keep cars for 10+ years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Audi A3 is $35k. Audi A4 is $45k.

OP here - I wasn't thinking the low end models like A3 or A4. FWIW, I'd much rather get a Rav4 than either of those. My general comment was that I see so many VERY expensive cars on the road and don't quite fathom how there are that many people buying such cars.

It’s pretty easy to lease a car, OP.

And leasing is 99% of time, a really dumb financial decision. But then again, plenty of people buy homes with 5% down that they really cannot afford (and definately don't need), take fancy vacations that they can't afford and don't save enough for college/retirement. Most Americans don't know how to budget and plan

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The short answer is that Americans spend a ton of money on cars. The average household spends 33% of their take home income on housing, 17% on cars, and 13% on food.

So overall, people spend more on cars than FOOD each month. Seems messed up to me, but that's how folks craft their budgets.

My sibling is like that. He buys wilted lettuce at a mediocre supermarket but has an $80,000 car. He's a car guy. OP ought to know by now that people have different spending preferences.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Breaking news at 11! People are just bad with money. They have it so they spend it. They don’t think long term.

Or in other breaking news, people have different tastes and different priorities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live in the city and there are no pricey cars here. The rich don't need to flex and the poor take a bus or drive old Japanese cars.
There are people who feel warm and fuzzy driving luxury cars and there are people who don't really care what they drive. I have other things to make me feel warm and fuzzy.
Luxury car would not add to my happiness, quite the opposite. If one believes it adds to their happiness, it's money well spent.

This is very well put. I feel the same way as you, and OP, but there also are plenty of things I spend frivolously on that make me happy. As long as they fit within the budget, to each their own.

Yup! I only comment when people complain about not being able to afford other things---so if you are both driving $60K vehicles, but cannot afford to fully fund your kid's college (at in state or mid level/$60 per year), then I personally question your finances. I'd personally drive a $35K Honda/Toyota and put the rest towards college. So just don't complain that you are "donut hole" and be driving a $60K vehicle. Because those are choices you made, and you have to live with the consequences

[Anonymous]

My lease on a 60K car is $500 including everything. That’s what my car payment was for my Honda accord five years ago.

Sometimes people aren’t paying as much as you think.

[Anonymous]

You make like 30-35k a month after tax, I think you can afford 60k car especially if you’re frugal in other areas. I bought a 55k Tesla when I only made about 240k and single (so paying a higher tax rate) and barely noticed it, still saved a ton of money every month.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My lease on a 60K car is $500 including everything. That’s what my car payment was for my Honda accord five years ago.

Sometimes people aren’t paying as much as you think.

Was your Honda leased? If not, that is not an apples to apples comparison. Turn in that 60K car after lease and you have nothing. After you pay off the Honda, you still have a car.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We make less than third and have a pricy car. OP, I doubt you will return to respond to follow up questions despite asking.

How old are ou guys and what’s your net worth?

OP here - We are early/mid 40s. I haven't calculated net worth before, but if you include 401ks, Id say over 1M.

At that age and with that income trajectory, you should have much more than $1M NW. So it would seem you have a spending issue. You spend on lots of other things, but could easily budget/save and afford a nicer car if it mattered to you

For us, we like driving nice cars. We can afford it, so we do it. We also keep them at least 7-8 years (sometimes 10+) and we pay cash.

Not in this area she doesn’t. Maybe her income is new and everything here is expensive. She’s just honest, unlike the liars who claim they’re mid 30’s with 250k HHI and 7M net worth who also drive luxury cars.

[Anonymous]

The best answer, at least before covid, was to buy these luxury cars off lease. You get a three year old luxury car with less than 36k miles for a fraction of the new price.

[Anonymous]

We bought luxury cars a few years ago, but next time we're going back to Toyota. All sorts of picky little things break and are incredibly expensive to replace, as is the regular maintenance. And now the insurance is ridiculous too. My DH has been looking at Priuses.

[Anonymous]

The best answer, at least before covid, was to buy these luxury cars off lease. You get a three year old luxury car with less than 36k miles for a fraction of the new price.

This is/was true for cars in general, not just luxury ones. (I haven't bought a car post-COVID, so I'm not sure if it still applies.)

[Anonymous]

You should blame dirtbag Obama.

First of all, he killed the cheap used car market with "cash for clunkers".

Secondly, his fuel economy regulations drove automakers to create bigger, and thus more expensive, cars.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You should blame dirtbag Obama.

First of all, he killed the cheap used car market with "cash for clunkers".

Secondly, his fuel economy regulations drove automakers to create bigger, and thus more expensive, cars.

The cheap used car market was killed during covid when chips were scarce. New car production went way down and that trickled down to used cars being less available and becoming worth more. Now that new car production is getting back to pre-covid supply levels we'll start seeing more better and cheaper used cars.

How would fuel economy regulations cause car makers to make bigger more expensive cars?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My lease on a 60K car is $500 including everything. That’s what my car payment was for my Honda accord five years ago.

Sometimes people aren’t paying as much as you think.

But you could purchase that Honda and own it in 4 years with that payment. and then keep the car for another 4-5 years (with minimal maintenance cause it's a Honda) and pay cash for your next car and not owe anything for the next 10 years except insurance and maintenance