How do so many young families have $80k SUVs?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have an $80k SUV and love it. I paid for it in full, so no debt. It's such a great vehicle - could't be happier with it.


No family money here. I've worked hard to get where I am. Mid-40s, so not a young person, but I do have a young kid.

This could be me writing. 40F, finance, $700k HHI with fed partner, young kid, paid cash for a Volvo SUV and also still own a 15Y old Toyota. Car was wildly expensive and ridiculous and also is a pleasure to drive. I get the OP’s question- cars are nuts expensive for a depreciating asset!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:only a-holes drive suburbans.

Will I get turned down when I go to buy one since I'm not an a-hole?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:1. husband makes $$$
2. Family money
3. Deep debt

Likely #3 - people don't save. Just want to impress others

There is a lot of that going around.

Back when I was in school and worked at a lab, the lady who took care of glassware drove an Acura, while the people who headed the departments drove sensible Toyota/Honda etc. She would complain about how difficult it was for her to find insurance, because her two previous cars were stolen, but never had any issues finding financing.

Similarly, a friend who is a wealth manager once told me about a partner in a law firm who was in the red every month when they did the math. They lived in an outrageously expensive house (even by DCUM standards), had 5 expensive cars between 2 adults, 2 nannies, one per child, housekeeper, gardener, etc. In the meantime, they had no retirement savings, not even a 401k for which his firm offered a dollar for dollar match, and nothing saved for said kids to go to college. The wife absolutely refused to hear about downsizing anything.

This is crazy. I would not be able to sleep at night. A gardener? Yet no retirement. Wow. I wonder how prevalent this is. Wealth managers and mortgage people must see the most interesting situations!

About 20 years ago my BFF who does accounting and retirement savings management told me that fewer than 50% of the lawyers at the law firm she was working at the time put $$ into their 401k.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have an $80k SUV and love it. I paid for it in full, so no debt. It's such a great vehicle - could't be happier with it.


No family money here. I've worked hard to get where I am. Mid-40s, so not a young person, but I do have a young kid.

This could be me writing. 40F, finance, $700k HHI with fed partner, young kid, paid cash for a Volvo SUV and also still own a 15Y old Toyota. Car was wildly expensive and ridiculous and also is a pleasure to drive. I get the OP’s question- cars are nuts expensive for a depreciating asset!

Plenty of cars have very nice interiors and are "a pleasure to drive" and cost half that. People just don't want to admit it's about status.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Plenty of cars have very nice interiors and are "a pleasure to drive" and cost half that. People just don't want to admit it's about status.

Please name these cars.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Plenty of cars have very nice interiors and are "a pleasure to drive" and cost half that. People just don't want to admit it's about status.

Please name these cars.

So you can claim they are terrible while insisting you are not the shallow status-seeker we all know you are?

[Anonymous]

No, I just think you’re full of crap and are getting defensive about getting called out on an obvious bluff.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Plenty of cars have very nice interiors and are "a pleasure to drive" and cost half that. People just don't want to admit it's about status.

Please name these cars.

So you can claim they are terrible while insisting you are not the shallow status-seeker we all know you are?

Here's a list of top cars under $40k:
https://www.caranddriver.com/rankings/best-sedans/under-40k

Sure they will all get you from point A to point B, but for the same reason I don't dress in clothes from the GAP (which cover my body just fine), I would not buy these vehicles.

[Anonymous]

I bought a 60k car when I only made low 200’s as a young single mid 20’s guy with no kids 8 years ago. Had something like a 150-200k net worth at the time (only a few years out of school).

Didn’t really affect my finances in the slightest. Worth millions now.

I’ve splurged on hundreds of thousands of other “fun” purchases since then and I’m still very secure financially.

This forum is just very financially conservative to the point of ridiculousness

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have an $80k SUV and love it. I paid for it in full, so no debt. It's such a great vehicle - could't be happier with it.


No family money here. I've worked hard to get where I am. Mid-40s, so not a young person, but I do have a young kid.

This could be me writing. 40F, finance, $700k HHI with fed partner, young kid, paid cash for a Volvo SUV and also still own a 15Y old Toyota. Car was wildly expensive and ridiculous and also is a pleasure to drive. I get the OP’s question- cars are nuts expensive for a depreciating asset!

Sounds like you and the other PP did it the right way; through your own hard earned money, and not your parents funding it. Nice cars are a pleasure to drive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have an $80k SUV and love it. I paid for it in full, so no debt. It's such a great vehicle - could't be happier with it.


No family money here. I've worked hard to get where I am. Mid-40s, so not a young person, but I do have a young kid.

This could be me writing. 40F, finance, $700k HHI with fed partner, young kid, paid cash for a Volvo SUV and also still own a 15Y old Toyota. Car was wildly expensive and ridiculous and also is a pleasure to drive. I get the OP’s question- cars are nuts expensive for a depreciating asset!

Plenty of cars have very nice interiors and are "a pleasure to drive" and cost half that. People just don't want to admit it's about status.

+100

I used to drive a Volvo suv and the differences from my Toyota vehicles driving experience was pretty small. Back then they did have better safety features though.

IMO there is not much difference in driving experience until you get to the top of the line mass market luxury vehicles-things like Mercedes AMG or Audi A8.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have an $80k SUV and love it. I paid for it in full, so no debt. It's such a great vehicle - could't be happier with it.


No family money here. I've worked hard to get where I am. Mid-40s, so not a young person, but I do have a young kid.

This could be me writing. 40F, finance, $700k HHI with fed partner, young kid, paid cash for a Volvo SUV and also still own a 15Y old Toyota. Car was wildly expensive and ridiculous and also is a pleasure to drive. I get the OP’s question- cars are nuts expensive for a depreciating asset!

Plenty of cars have very nice interiors and are "a pleasure to drive" and cost half that. People just don't want to admit it's about status.

+100

I used to drive a Volvo suv and the differences from my Toyota vehicles driving experience was pretty small. Back then they did have better safety features though.

IMO there is not much difference in driving experience until you get to the top of the line mass market luxury vehicles-things like Mercedes AMG or Audi A8.

My high trim honda civic at sub 25k was pretty nice to drive vs the various rental cars I was given during business trips.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This could be me ... 40F, finance, $700k HHI with fed partner, young kid ... . I get the OP’s question.

The OP is a teacher, off for the summer, asking how moms who look under 35 with 3+ little kids can afford an $80k SUV.

Young teachers make less than $100k, so an $80k SUV would be roughly her annual income and completely unaffordable.

Posters have suggested family money or debt. But it is no mystery for an older couples with only one kid to afford an expensive car.

Townhouses near McLean's Sherman Elementary School and Potomac's Bells Mill Elementary School cost more than $1MM. Families with 3+ little kids usually live in larger, more expensive homes with room for older kids, nannies, au pairs, and grandparents. The SUV costs a small fraction of those houses.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Plenty of cars have very nice interiors and are "a pleasure to drive" and cost half that. People just don't want to admit it's about status.

Please name these cars.

DP: Honda CRV fully loaded is only $40K. You can fit a family of 5 in that, and easily a family of 4.
Huge trunk

ANd bonus, it will also you 150K+ miles

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Plenty of cars have very nice interiors and are "a pleasure to drive" and cost half that. People just don't want to admit it's about status.

Please name these cars.

So you can claim they are terrible while insisting you are not the shallow status-seeker we all know you are?

Here's a list of top cars under $40k:
https://www.caranddriver.com/rankings/best-sedans/under-40k

Sure they will all get you from point A to point B, but for the same reason I don't dress in clothes from the GAP (which cover my body just fine), I would not buy these vehicles.

All good if you can afford it, but if you cannot, you should be buying old navy clothing not luxury. (or the gap)

I drive a $95K vehicle. But we can afford it, paid cash, and have been paying cash for luxury cars for 25+ years. But if you cannot do that, and are not set for retirement, you should not be doing that, it's not smart