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.

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?

Will you? What is your net worth, HHI and why did you choose a “pricy” car?

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.

This. Looks like your high income is new. These people with luxury cars probably have a much lower HHI but if they’ve been working for some time, then they can afford a $60k car.

Teslas are pretty cheap these days. With the Maryland and federal rebates and an inventory discount our long range Model Y was about 42k. I think they’re even cheaper now. And that’s about the the range for an equivalent sensible SUV like a Toyota Rav4.

Plus anyone with a family basically requires an SUV or minivan, so they may be buying used as well if they can’t afford new.

Personally fancy and new cars are a waste of money. To each their own.

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.

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?

People just prioritize different things. We have neighbors who live in houses worth over $3 million who drive Hondas and Toyotas. Other neighbors who live in houses that are nice, but definitely a step down, drive luxury cars. To each their own.

We fall into the Honda/Toyota camp because (other than safety features) I just don’t really care about cars and I want something that requires as little maintenance as possible. I have friends that think I’m nuts because the driving performance of something like a BMW is so much better. I doubt I’d notice and even still, it’s not worth $30k for me.

Just shut up. $600k HHI with public school and you are wondering? Either you are not too bright or…?

If you cannot afford it you have a spending issue. I doubt your house is modest. We make less than a third you do and I have a pricy car I paid cash for.

I have one kid in college and one in high school. I’m 44, we make a variable income, but usually around 500-650k/yr. After my mega roth, both our 401ks, his ESPP and our HSA straight out of our checks go 96k towards employer based retirement/investments. we then have another 48k that goes into taxable brokerage.

our mortgage is low (we’ve been homeowners since 2001 so have traded up and up), we have a couple of cash flow positive rentals, and did 529 so we don’t have college expenses.

this leaves so so much money left over. Maybe you save more than us, but we should retire with 6M in equities, and a few more million in real estate. It’s not a stretch for my Genesis., which I just spend 80k on. we had kids early and had to get serious early so we are smooth sailing at this point in our lives.

Wealth and high net worth rather than just high current HHI is one big factor.

Leasing and lightly used cars are other partial explanations. You are only looking at the big ticket $60k+ cost of a brand new car. Many people buy cars from the last few years or lease at good prices. Some large corporations, for example, get good lease deals that are pre-negotiated.

Sadly, some people are also buying and leasing cars they probably shouldn't to keep up with the Joneses.

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.

Audi A3 is $35k. Audi A4 is $45k.

We make a very good living - HHI over $600k. We have three kids in public school and a modest, but nice house. It's expensive of course given the area. Life in general is expensive in this area, as we all know! Apart from the house, we are pretty frugal.

I've been looking into a buying new car and initially aspired to something in the luxury area - a BMW, Audi, or something like that. But I was blown away by the prices. Cars are crazy expensive! There's just no way I can justify spending 60k or 70k on a vehicle. But when I drive around, it seems like every other car is BMW, Tesla, MB, Range Rover, etc - all of which cost $$$$.

So how is it possible that SO many people are buying super expensive cars? At my current income level - which I'm quite happy with - I would never feel comfortable spending that much on a vehicle. Who are all these people???