Nobody is judging my car, right?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Omg another wealthy person bragging about their “frugal” habits. Sigh..

This thread is obviously full of liars trying to perpetuate old money urban legends as a cope for not being able to afford nicer household cars.

My husband is in private wealth management. Nobody making $300k, 400k, 500k hhi is driving an old s***box. Nobody. All of the execs and business owners in this income bracket get car allowances (upwards of $1,000/month) and/or it's basically free to upgrade a new truck every year due to tax laws. And of course they care about their perception. That's not to say they have to drive a tacky flashy new car, but they're not going to be caught dead in some decade old Nissan, Honda or Subaru.

Further, with newest safety features and efficiency gains, old cars are obsolete and unsafe. And the last thing rich want to do is carry AAA and deal with tow trucks, rental cars, and maintenance.

I'd slightly disagree for the 300k HHI level. It's reasonable that a family at that level could have grad school debts or paying private school tuition and living in a closer in area with a big mortgage could be fine with a Fit for errands and rarely driving more than that. But I do agree it's unlikely that someone making 500k HHI is fine driving around in a seven year old Fit for a family of four. The gap between 300k and 500k is significant. They would be going out of their way to put up with the inconveniences of an old Fit and the more money you have, the less likely are you to go out of your way to suffer inconveniences and discomfort to make a point.

The old money people cliche do drive non-flashy cars, but it's still newer, nicer cars like a loaded Subaru Outback. They're not driving Fits to their summer houses in Maine.

Wrong! The inconvenience would be getting a new car! The only frustration I have with my Fit is that in order to get music over the speakers you have to use a cord, but of course we could buy a Bluetooth thing and then I wouldn’t have to deal with that.

But even the idea of thinking about buying a new car is overwhelming. Look at all the posters on here asking for advice. Figuring out your needs, budget, the pros and cons of all the different options, etc.

If we had had an HHI in the 500s when we bought the car, we would not have bought a fit. But we bought it when our HHI was 55K and we had lots of student loan debt.

[Anonymous]

OP here again. I now feel like my 2013 (typo in my first post)Honda Fit with 98K miles is nothing. You people driving cars that are way older are downright inspiring.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Omg another wealthy person bragging about their “frugal” habits. Sigh..

This thread is obviously full of liars trying to perpetuate old money urban legends as a cope for not being able to afford nicer household cars.

My husband is in private wealth management. Nobody making $300k, 400k, 500k hhi is driving an old s***box. Nobody. All of the execs and business owners in this income bracket get car allowances (upwards of $1,000/month) and/or it's basically free to upgrade a new truck every year due to tax laws. And of course they care about their perception. That's not to say they have to drive a tacky flashy new car, but they're not going to be caught dead in some decade old Nissan, Honda or Subaru.

Further, with newest safety features and efficiency gains, old cars are obsolete and unsafe. And the last thing rich want to do is carry AAA and deal with tow trucks, rental cars, and maintenance.

Well we don’t get a car allowance of 1000K a month! I definitely wouldn’t leave that on the table to keep my Fit.

Also it has a 4 star safety rating. I suppose it would make sense to upgrade that but it’s not like it’s a hazard.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Omg another wealthy person bragging about their “frugal” habits. Sigh..

This thread is obviously full of liars trying to perpetuate old money urban legends as a cope for not being able to afford nicer household cars.

My husband is in private wealth management. Nobody making $300k, 400k, 500k hhi is driving an old s***box. Nobody. All of the execs and business owners in this income bracket get car allowances (upwards of $1,000/month) and/or it's basically free to upgrade a new truck every year due to tax laws. And of course they care about their perception. That's not to say they have to drive a tacky flashy new car, but they're not going to be caught dead in some decade old Nissan, Honda or Subaru.

Further, with newest safety features and efficiency gains, old cars are obsolete and unsafe. And the last thing rich want to do is carry AAA and deal with tow trucks, rental cars, and maintenance.

Well we don’t get a car allowance of 1000K a month! I definitely wouldn’t leave that on the table to keep my Fit.

Also it has a 4 star safety rating. I suppose it would make sense to upgrade that but it’s not like it’s a hazard.

OP, you went from a 55k HHI to 500+HHI in seven years. That tells me you are doctors. I assume you have substantial debt. Your income is still more funny money than reality.

However you want to justify it, you are making a statement that isn't quite true. You didn't buy the car when making 500k. You will not replace the Fit with another Fit when the time comes.

It's not difficult to research and buy a car. I rarely think about it. I just get a fully loaded Subaru Outback and not think twice again.

[Anonymous]

I would just assume you’re not a car person.

[Anonymous]

Ohh, I love the Honda Fit.
However I love it and find it ideal because I am single and my kids are all adults living elsewhere.
I think the Fit is perfect for just one person.

Contrary to what others believe, it is not that much cheaper than a common Civic.
But it seems like it has better gas mileage and I think it would be so much easier to park than most cars on the road now.

However for a family of four - I would think it would be a little tight but that is just an assumption.
If it works for you OP, more power to ya!
Honda is a top brand for dependable vehicles and the Fit will likely last until your youngest is off to college!

[Anonymous]

I'm the furthest thing from materialistic but an old eco car past age like 25 or so looks sketchy, unsuccessful and people assume you have bad credit. If we're being frank, it's just not a car a successful professional is driving.

And that corny WASP stereotype that the "really" rich drive old shitty cars is the fakest bunch of malarkey I've ever heard. Stop trying to cope that you in your cheap eco car look like stealth money. You don't. You look poor, because you are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Omg another wealthy person bragging about their “frugal” habits. Sigh..

This thread is obviously full of liars trying to perpetuate old money urban legends as a cope for not being able to afford nicer household cars.

My husband is in private wealth management. Nobody making $300k, 400k, 500k hhi is driving an old s***box. Nobody. All of the execs and business owners in this income bracket get car allowances (upwards of $1,000/month) and/or it's basically free to upgrade a new truck every year due to tax laws. And of course they care about their perception. That's not to say they have to drive a tacky flashy new car, but they're not going to be caught dead in some decade old Nissan, Honda or Subaru.

Further, with newest safety features and efficiency gains, old cars are obsolete and unsafe. And the last thing rich want to do is carry AAA and deal with tow trucks, rental cars, and maintenance.

I'd slightly disagree for the 300k HHI level. It's reasonable that a family at that level could have grad school debts or paying private school tuition and living in a closer in area with a big mortgage could be fine with a Fit for errands and rarely driving more than that. But I do agree it's unlikely that someone making 500k HHI is fine driving around in a seven year old Fit for a family of four. The gap between 300k and 500k is significant. They would be going out of their way to put up with the inconveniences of an old Fit and the more money you have, the less likely are you to go out of your way to suffer inconveniences and discomfort to make a point.

The old money people cliche do drive non-flashy cars, but it's still newer, nicer cars like a loaded Subaru Outback. They're not driving Fits to their summer houses in Maine.

Wrong! The inconvenience would be getting a new car! The only frustration I have with my Fit is that in order to get music over the speakers you have to use a cord, but of course we could buy a Bluetooth thing and then I wouldn’t have to deal with that.

But even the idea of thinking about buying a new car is overwhelming. Look at all the posters on here asking for advice. Figuring out your needs, budget, the pros and cons of all the different options, etc.

If we had had an HHI in the 500s when we bought the car, we would not have bought a fit. But we bought it when our HHI was 55K and we had lots of student loan debt.

$500k around here is probably biglaw and there is no allowance for that…that’s a weird assumption.