Anonymous wrote:I struggle to think of anyone I know who is truly UMC that drives a really old car or even a non-luxury car. Some have restored 90s era Broncos or older Land Cruisers but no one is driving an old, or even a new Honda.

My in-laws ($25M+) just bought a new (loaded, I will admit) RAV4 as their primary car. They also have a 10 year old CRV for the rare occasion they to go different places at the same time. I posted earlier that DH and I have an old Acura sedan and a newer minivan. It’s more common than you think.

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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.

Do you have this in two separate accounts due to the FDIC liability cap?

You can title them differently and have them at the same institution.

Anonymous wrote:Maybe not 13-year-old beaters, but I do see a decent number of rich people with newer cars from regular, non-luxury brands. Like if you are a creature of habit and you don't care for luxury cars and you like the Honda Civic, you'd get a newer one.

I guess the issue is what’s luxury and what isn’t.

You can certainly spend more on a new Toyota SUV with the highest trim package vs a BMW 3 series. I don’t even consider BMW or Mercedes even a luxury brand per se…they do have luxury models or course.

Is Lexus or Acura a luxury brand? Again, you can pay less for a Lexus with standard features then a Subaru with every bell and whistle.

Probably the most common luxury status symbols around here are the Porsche SUVs or those Mercedes tank-like SUVs…which everyone pretty much knows you spent over $100k.

Anonymous wrote:I don’t believe any of the people saying they’re rich and driving a 20 year old car.

Sure, I believe rich people are buying Subarus and Hondas. They might just not be into cars. The only reason to buy a luxury car is if you like it and you want to. But from a utilitarian perspective, there’s no reason. Personally, I just don’t want a bmw any more than I want a Toyota as long as the trim package is nice. I mostly care about how it feels to sit in it and weird stuff like if I like the seat controls.

But a 20 year old car is work! Taking cars in for maintenance is a pain. And it wouldn’t have CarPlay even. That makes no sense. Cheaper newish cars, yes. A 20 year old car you have to love or why bother.

Not necessarily. I have an 18 year old Toyota with over 200k miles and it's not more work than any other car. I take it into the local shop every 5k miles for an oil change and that's pretty much it, unless I need new brakes or new tires. Every couple of years or so something else needs to get fixed, but not very often. Honestly it spends less time in the shop than my spouse's new cars. It just keeps going and going, and I don't spend any time whatsoever worrying about dings or kids spilling stuff in the back. It's less mental energy for me than a new car would be. Once it gets to the point that I'm spending a lot of time and money on repairs, then I will get a new car - but we're not there yet.

Not uber-rich, but NW of a couple million.

Anonymous wrote:I know lots of middle class driving around in leased luxury cars.

The car you drive is not related to your net worth. We have millions, make over $500K/year and drive around in a Camry and Accord.

Same, except I drive a small Chevy. I really like my car.

Maybe not 13-year-old beaters, but I do see a decent number of rich people with newer cars from regular, non-luxury brands. Like if you are a creature of habit and you don't care for luxury cars and you like the Honda Civic, you'd get a newer one.

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Anonymous wrote:I don’t believe any of the people saying they’re rich and driving a 20 year old car.

Sure, I believe rich people are buying Subarus and Hondas. They might just not be into cars. The only reason to buy a luxury car is if you like it and you want to. But from a utilitarian perspective, there’s no reason. Personally, I just don’t want a bmw any more than I want a Toyota as long as the trim package is nice. I mostly care about how it feels to sit in it and weird stuff like if I like the seat controls.

But a 20 year old car is work! Taking cars in for maintenance is a pain. And it wouldn’t have CarPlay even. That makes no sense. Cheaper newish cars, yes. A 20 year old car you have to love or why bother.

Not to mention the safety issues on old cars. We have two cars both bought new in cash, 2 and 6 years old. Once one of them starts to have major issues or safety concerns, it's gone. Maybe we'll get lucky and it lasts 15 years, who knows.

Our car is so old it doesn't even have a screen, let alone CarPlay. But it only has 16k miles on it and works just like it did when we bought it, so why replace it?

You wouldn’t but I think we can all agree that’s atypical.

Is it if you live in DC? Plenty of people bike or take metro instead of driving, so I’d think this is more common than not.

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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.

Do you have this in two separate accounts due to the FDIC liability cap?

I know lots of middle class driving around in leased luxury cars.

The car you drive is not related to your net worth. We have millions, make over $500K/year and drive around in a Camry and Accord.

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Anonymous wrote:I don’t believe any of the people saying they’re rich and driving a 20 year old car.

Sure, I believe rich people are buying Subarus and Hondas. They might just not be into cars. The only reason to buy a luxury car is if you like it and you want to. But from a utilitarian perspective, there’s no reason. Personally, I just don’t want a bmw any more than I want a Toyota as long as the trim package is nice. I mostly care about how it feels to sit in it and weird stuff like if I like the seat controls.

But a 20 year old car is work! Taking cars in for maintenance is a pain. And it wouldn’t have CarPlay even. That makes no sense. Cheaper newish cars, yes. A 20 year old car you have to love or why bother.

Not to mention the safety issues on old cars. We have two cars both bought new in cash, 2 and 6 years old. Once one of them starts to have major issues or safety concerns, it's gone. Maybe we'll get lucky and it lasts 15 years, who knows.

Our car is so old it doesn't even have a screen, let alone CarPlay. But it only has 16k miles on it and works just like it did when we bought it, so why replace it?

You wouldn’t but I think we can all agree that’s atypical.

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Anonymous wrote:I don’t believe any of the people saying they’re rich and driving a 20 year old car.

Sure, I believe rich people are buying Subarus and Hondas. They might just not be into cars. The only reason to buy a luxury car is if you like it and you want to. But from a utilitarian perspective, there’s no reason. Personally, I just don’t want a bmw any more than I want a Toyota as long as the trim package is nice. I mostly care about how it feels to sit in it and weird stuff like if I like the seat controls.

But a 20 year old car is work! Taking cars in for maintenance is a pain. And it wouldn’t have CarPlay even. That makes no sense. Cheaper newish cars, yes. A 20 year old car you have to love or why bother.

Not to mention the safety issues on old cars. We have two cars both bought new in cash, 2 and 6 years old. Once one of them starts to have major issues or safety concerns, it's gone. Maybe we'll get lucky and it lasts 15 years, who knows.

Our car is so old it doesn't even have a screen, let alone CarPlay. But it only has 16k miles on it and works just like it did when we bought it, so why replace it?

Anonymous wrote:I don’t believe any of the people saying they’re rich and driving a 20 year old car.

Sure, I believe rich people are buying Subarus and Hondas. They might just not be into cars. The only reason to buy a luxury car is if you like it and you want to. But from a utilitarian perspective, there’s no reason. Personally, I just don’t want a bmw any more than I want a Toyota as long as the trim package is nice. I mostly care about how it feels to sit in it and weird stuff like if I like the seat controls.

But a 20 year old car is work! Taking cars in for maintenance is a pain. And it wouldn’t have CarPlay even. That makes no sense. Cheaper newish cars, yes. A 20 year old car you have to love or why bother.

Not to mention the safety issues on old cars. We have two cars both bought new in cash, 2 and 6 years old. Once one of them starts to have major issues or safety concerns, it's gone. Maybe we'll get lucky and it lasts 15 years, who knows.

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Anonymous wrote:These threads are hilarious. The circle jerk of “old money drives beater Hondas” is quintessential dcum.

All a cope by strivers still paying off their student loans. The 2013 Honda is gone from the driveway the day they inherit some cash or get a huge promotion.

That’s what I’m thinking too. Spend time at any DC private, in any nice neighborhood, etc. - mostly fairly new luxury vehicles. And I don’t want to hear that they are all drowning in debt or fools - I can assure you they are not. But it certainly sounds like you want to convince yourself they are.

Anonymous wrote:These threads are hilarious. The circle jerk of “old money drives beater Hondas” is quintessential dcum.

All a cope by strivers still paying off their student loans. The 2013 Honda is gone from the driveway the day they inherit some cash or get a huge promotion.

I struggle to think of anyone I know who is truly UMC that drives a really old car or even a non-luxury car. Some have restored 90s era Broncos or older Land Cruisers but no one is driving an old, or even a new Honda.