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

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Rich people are too money smart to waste money on an overpriced status symbol car. They don't want other people to know how rich they are.

Yeah, you really must not spend much time with people of significant wealth. The Sam Waltons of the world are rare. The billionaires I know personally all have at least one if not two very large private planes, giant houses and drivers. A few have 24/7 security teams beyond just home security.

A lot of old money is running out of money, so yeah, they aren't buying expensive cars.

If you're talking about the people with 4 - 5M in retirement accounts, then I would agree, plenty of these people are not buying expensive SUVs. I think when people who have made their own money hit about 8M, then the cars get nicer.

[Anonymous]

I dated a Girl whose Grandma lived on Great Gatsby Lane in Kings Point Long Island, Yes like the Book. She was a widow.

This might shock you but I had a 1969 Plymouth Satelite with a Dent on the right side. I was young (but even back then it was almost 23 years old). I sometimes would pick her up for parties at my Girlfriends parents house as it was on the way. The lady joke with me she buys a new Cadillac ever 20 years whether she needs it or not. She used to tell me her dead husband had same car I was driving way back.

Her Mom was same way. I was very confused. She had a three million dollar home back in 1993 and her daughter had a two million home and her "super rich Uncle" had a house I cant even describe. But here is a picture of it. I drove the car to his party with the Grandma GF and Mom in car!!!! I was young but he had I counted them 40 chairs at his kitchen table, a full sectional couch, recliners, big screen TV all in his Kitchen!!!!! The Jets game was on and I caught him in kitchen, had a beer with him. I go why the set up in Kitchen, he said house so damm big, it takes forever to walk from Den to Kitchen so why not watch game in kitchen plus my cook and help in here so they I can get my wings and beer without walking.

That girls family I think my GF was fourth generation rich was very much beat up cars, going to dive bars, wearing old jeans, and living in multimillion dollar houses. I fell off my chair when one mentioned they paid 3 million for a home in 1978.

Here is the rich uncle home. I knew lots of rich people but they are only ones I ever was a part of that was of that type of networth

https://www.priceypads.com/60000-sq-ft-great-gatsby-mansion-for-sale-in-kings-point-new-york/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Everyone is exploiting tax loopholes to write off their cars. They’re essentially driving them for free. Middle class are the only suckers driving used and out of warranty cars.

This simply isn't true. Not everyone, in fact, I don't believe that many people are exploiting tax loopholes for car. Again, cite your data.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree. I think DMV is very different than anywhere else in the country. There is a very real “millionaire next door” attitude, dating back to waspy ambitions.

Nearly everywhere else in the country, affluent Americans are driving nice cars.

+1 DC money is not showy and is more likely to be expressed in private school tuition and fancy vacations. This is not Miami or LA where people like to show off their expensive sports cars.

lol. Land Rover Bethesda is the top selling Land Rover dealer on the east coast.

I just assume anyone who chooses to buy a Land Rover is terrible with money.

[Anonymous]

We drive Porsche and Mercedes. We aren’t at all over extended and the cars are essentially budget dust, we just buy what we prefer and, particularly with the Mercedes, keep it very long-term.

[Anonymous]

It depends on the type of rich. The old money country club types - the ones that live on certain streets in certain zip codes in old homes and have used the same private schools for generations - those types do not drive new luxury brand SUVs. They drive used ones, older ones, Jeeps, Fords, Volvo wagons, etc. Driving a new black Range Rover or BMW is gauche to them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Rich people are too money smart to waste money on an overpriced status symbol car. They don't want other people to know how rich they are.

Yeah, you really must not spend much time with people of significant wealth. The Sam Waltons of the world are rare. The billionaires I know personally all have at least one if not two very large private planes, giant houses and drivers. A few have 24/7 security teams beyond just home security.

A lot of old money is running out of money, so yeah, they aren't buying expensive cars.

If you're talking about the people with 4 - 5M in retirement accounts, then I would agree, plenty of these people are not buying expensive SUVs. I think when people who have made their own money hit about 8M, then the cars get nicer.

This is such a baffling conversation. A new BMW costs about 65k. A few years used it goes down to much, much less, under 40k. That is really nothing for anyone wealthy, and I don't mean billionaires, as long as you keep that car for a decent amount of time. I think people here (and I've never heard people talk like this irl!) assign some special value to Hondas, as if they signaled humility and thrift. But they can be just as expensive as luxury cars.

[Anonymous]

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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.

Why would you not have anything in savings or HYSA?

I have very little money in savings and a HYSA, certainly not enough to buy a 150K SUV. I am nearly 100% invested in stocks, municipal bonds and some treasuries.

Listen, I'm on your side vis a vis hanging on to an old car that works for you, but if you truly have a 20M net worth and almost nothing liquid, you're making a rookie mistake. You want to be able to weather stock market downturns and job losses without selling low, and at your NW I'd have at least 300-500k cash equivalents.

FWIW, I'm not driving an old car. And my "cash" is in treasuries. If something hits the fan, then I would liquidate out of that bucket. And I have a whole lot more than 500K in treasuries. But our investments spin off more than we spend (not great given the tax implications there, but I am not comfortable being 100% equities in this environment) plus we both still work. I'm primarily responding to the extremely definitive responses that may have some % of truth for some people, but are not true of everyone.

[Anonymous]

I’m not even joking about this, I think it hurts more to pay cash for cars and it makes you not want to buy such an $$$ one unless you want one because you like cars.

If you’re used to having a car payment, you’re looking at the monthly difference. Maybe that makes it feel not so bad. But if I’m looking at an extra $50k to have a bmw instead of a Toyota or whatever, and I can get the Toyota and keep the $50k in my hand today, you have to really want the bmw. I just don’t care that much about cars. If you switched the badges, I don’t think I would know the difference anyway.

But do I always have a newish, comfortable car that isn’t a hassle? Yes. If the bmw was important to me for some reason? Sure! I would get it. I think maybe a lot of people just find the regular level car is just as good.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Rich people are too money smart to waste money on an overpriced status symbol car. They don't want other people to know how rich they are.

Yeah, you really must not spend much time with people of significant wealth. The Sam Waltons of the world are rare. The billionaires I know personally all have at least one if not two very large private planes, giant houses and drivers. A few have 24/7 security teams beyond just home security.

A lot of old money is running out of money, so yeah, they aren't buying expensive cars.

If you're talking about the people with 4 - 5M in retirement accounts, then I would agree, plenty of these people are not buying expensive SUVs. I think when people who have made their own money hit about 8M, then the cars get nicer.

This is such a baffling conversation. A new BMW costs about 65k. A few years used it goes down to much, much less, under 40k. That is really nothing for anyone wealthy, and I don't mean billionaires, as long as you keep that car for a decent amount of time. I think people here (and I've never heard people talk like this irl!) assign some special value to Hondas, as if they signaled humility and thrift. But they can be just as expensive as luxury cars.

I am the PP. A high end BMW is double that. But that is beside the point. I think that people on DCUM like to virtue signal with their "old" cars. And some simply can't afford to live in the area, pay for private and vacations, fund 529s and retirement AND buy an expensive car, so it's easier to try to spin the narrative that rich people don't waste money on luxury cars. There is no one universal truth here. Life and people are far more complex than that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The humble millionaire next door seems like nonsense to me; rich people are not driving 25 year old Volvo station wagons. And everyone with a nice new luxury car obviously isn't broke and overextended. I'm currently in a swank town and every car is a new Range Rover, Porsche crossover, Tesla, or Audi-BMW-Mercedes (they all look alike). The worst car I see are new Chevrolet Tahoes, which are like 80 grand. If that humble old money thing ever existed, it certainly doesn't anymore.

Define "rich."

The ones that accumulated wealth slowly because of their frugal ways most definitely fit this profile.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The humble millionaire next door seems like nonsense to me; rich people are not driving 25 year old Volvo station wagons. And everyone with a nice new luxury car obviously isn't broke and overextended. I'm currently in a swank town and every car is a new Range Rover, Porsche crossover, Tesla, or Audi-BMW-Mercedes (they all look alike). The worst car I see are new Chevrolet Tahoes, which are like 80 grand. If that humble old money thing ever existed, it certainly doesn't anymore.

Thanks to Reaganomics, Clinton’s NAFTA, and uni-party open borders, wage growth for the American middle class has been stagnant for 40 years. The top 10% and especially the top 1% are hoarding all of the wealth. 2026 rich vs 1986 rich is night and day. A couple of new cars in the driveway is a meaningless rounding error to a modern multi-millionaire. And thanks to Godless secularism, nobody has humility anymore; modern rich want everyone to know they’re rich.

[Anonymous]

The rich in DC drive older model cars, walk, bike, uber, and one borrows a car from a friend. It used to be his car. It's almost like he saw the car as a nuisance as he is often away.
They go for convenience, fit, feeling, need, and safety. You'd never know they have money.
They do not drive long distances, but they do fly a lot.
Compare DC to Miami and you know where the notion came from and then maybe from MND.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The humble millionaire next door seems like nonsense to me; rich people are not driving 25 year old Volvo station wagons. And everyone with a nice new luxury car obviously isn't broke and overextended. I'm currently in a swank town and every car is a new Range Rover, Porsche crossover, Tesla, or Audi-BMW-Mercedes (they all look alike). The worst car I see are new Chevrolet Tahoes, which are like 80 grand. If that humble old money thing ever existed, it certainly doesn't anymore.

Imagine spending $80K on a Chevy Tahoe! A fool and his money soon part!

Some people buy Hummers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It depends on the type of rich. The old money country club types - the ones that live on certain streets in certain zip codes in old homes and have used the same private schools for generations - those types do not drive new luxury brand SUVs. They drive used ones, older ones, Jeeps, Fords, Volvo wagons, etc. Driving a new black Range Rover or BMW is gauche to them.

This is nonsense. We’re social members at a stuffy country club. Nobody drives crummy old cars, not even members’ teen kids. The only crummy old cars are in the employee lot.