Anonymous
Post 06/14/2022 11:01     Subject: At what HHI would you feel comfortable buying an $80-90k car?
HHI 2.5m. Recently purchased an 80k very large suv because I have 3 kids and need the space. I know the dcum way is to cram all of your kids in a Nissan Leaf and scream about the wastefulness of this particular car. Whatever, I hear you. I don’t really consider the car a super luxurious car but more of a luxury in terms of comfort for my family. While i was annoyed to spend that much on a car, we also had the attitude of it is what it is and at our HHI, the price wasn’t a deterrent. we plan to keep it for a long time and will downsize on the next purchase when there are no more car seats.
Anonymous
Post 06/14/2022 10:57     Subject: At what HHI would you feel comfortable buying an $80-90k car?
We have a HHI of about $200k now, and are hoping to spend no more than about $30k on our next car. So I guess if you tripled our HHI, we'd feel comfortable spending $80 or $90k on a car?

I can't really imagine the car we'd want for that price - neither of us is a car person - but, just, numbers-wise, I think that's about what would get us there.
Anonymous
Post 06/14/2022 10:54     Subject: At what HHI would you feel comfortable buying an $80-90k car?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Another never. I don't want people looking at my car when I drive. I hate being noticed.


Same. Driving an expensive car can get you noticed, and not always in a good way. I don’t want a car that is going to attract attention. I love having the freedom do go where I want to go and have people be none the wiser about my financial status.
I suppose I might consider having a second “fun” car, once my kids are launched.


You realize a lot of the most popular cars in the country- pickups- cost 80-90 right? It's not a Massaratti.
Anonymous
Post 06/14/2022 10:21     Subject: At what HHI would you feel comfortable buying an $80-90k car?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Never. Waste of money.


This. I would prefer to feed the hungry, house the homeless, etc., rather than spend that much on a depreciating vehicle


At a certain income level you can do both, and that seems to be how people are responding.
Anonymous
Post 06/14/2022 10:19     Subject: At what HHI would you feel comfortable buying an $80-90k car?
Anonymous wrote:Never. Waste of money.


This. I would prefer to feed the hungry, house the homeless, etc., rather than spend that much on a depreciating vehicle
Anonymous
Post 06/14/2022 09:38     Subject: At what HHI would you feel comfortable buying an $80-90k car?
We have a luxury car, HHI 1.5. I get that everyone has an opinion about this but no one truly knows your individual situation. I’m sure plenty of people judge that we have a luxury suv bc we live in a middle class area. They also have no idea about our specific financial situation. Some people think it’s a waste, ok.
Anonymous
Post 06/14/2022 09:34     Subject: At what HHI would you feel comfortable buying an $80-90k car?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I’d do it now at 500k, just not a car person.

What would the payment be in something like that? 1.3k/mo with some money down? That’s just noise.

After all my deductions, including 2 401k, health, HSA I’m bringing in nearly 25k/mo. I’m not gonna miss 1300.


If you need to do it on credit, you shouldn't be buying it. Seriously, I haven't had a car loan for 20 years. And don't give me any BS about your money working for you. The last 6 months have proved that's not the case.


I always buy my cars with a 0 or low interest rate loan. Has nothing to do I do with needing to take out a loan. Please don’t tell me I have spell out the why to you.


Good luck finding a 0% rate after the Fed hikes rates again tomorrow. Those days are over for a while.


Back to reality.
Anonymous
Post 06/14/2022 09:30     Subject: Re:At what HHI would you feel comfortable buying an $80-90k car?
I made pretty good money for my entire working life, averaging around $650k a year in my 40s and early 50s. I retired at 53 and haven't worked for close to a decade. My spouse was a SAHM.

We rarely bought a new car, and when we did it was never a luxury car. We'd typically buy a late model used car with low mileage that was still under warranty, and we always paid cash. We also never traveled first class or stayed in luxury hotel, etc. We weren't frugal, ever. Just practical. Yet always comfortable.

That's how we managed to leave the working world behind as early as we did without having to make any change in our lifestyle whatsoever.



Anonymous
Post 06/14/2022 09:19     Subject: At what HHI would you feel comfortable buying an $80-90k car?
Anonymous wrote:Only if you could pay in cash after maxing out every other tax advantaged account, 529s, and saved 10% of your income in in a brokerage.

A car at that price is TOY. Treat it as such.


Ours is an SUV, so not exactly a toy. Our current luxury SUV has 130k miles on it.
Anonymous
Post 06/14/2022 09:16     Subject: At what HHI would you feel comfortable buying an $80-90k car?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I’d do it now at 500k, just not a car person.

What would the payment be in something like that? 1.3k/mo with some money down? That’s just noise.

After all my deductions, including 2 401k, health, HSA I’m bringing in nearly 25k/mo. I’m not gonna miss 1300.


If you need to do it on credit, you shouldn't be buying it. Seriously, I haven't had a car loan for 20 years. And don't give me any BS about your money working for you. The last 6 months have proved that's not the case.


I always buy my cars with a 0 or low interest rate loan. Has nothing to do I do with needing to take out a loan. Please don’t tell me I have spell out the why to you.


Good luck finding a 0% rate after the Fed hikes rates again tomorrow. Those days are over for a while.
Anonymous
Post 06/14/2022 09:14     Subject: At what HHI would you feel comfortable buying an $80-90k car?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:As expected, you’re getting a lot of answers from people who don’t like cars, can’t imagine that anyone else could, and want to judge people who do. Whatever. Driving a crappy old car to your house with the Subzero refrigerator and Wolf range doesn’t make you morally superior.

As someone who likes cars, I don’t think the answer is tied to income, so much as when you have sufficient funds to pay your mortgage, other expenses, retirement and college savings, and have enough left over to pay cash for the car. (Note: you don’t have to actually pay cash — dealers often have special deals for financing that make it make financial sense to do so. You just should be able to pay cash, if needed.) if having a nice car is a priority for you, that number will be different from those who prioritize other things.


Seems correct.

Odd question, overall. At what HHI do you pay $2k for a suit? $10k for a watch? $60 for a steak? Gosh, I don’t know!


The answer is (suit) never, (watch) never, and (steak) if work is paying for it.
Anonymous
Post 06/14/2022 09:08     Subject: At what HHI would you feel comfortable buying an $80-90k car?
Never. Waste of $.
Anonymous
Post 06/14/2022 08:21     Subject: Re:At what HHI would you feel comfortable buying an $80-90k car?
Anonymous wrote:It is not about HHI, it's about priorities. Some people spend their money on expensive travels and vacations, others will spend on expensive furniture, others will spend on nice cars.


Agree with this.

Also, with an expensive car, comes expensive repairs and maintenance. I have found with the more expensive cars, everything costs more.
Anonymous
Post 06/14/2022 08:19     Subject: At what HHI would you feel comfortable buying an $80-90k car?
We save money to buy a hydrogene powered car. So although our HHI ist 300k we will spend about 70k for our next new car.
Anonymous
Post 06/14/2022 07:59     Subject: At what HHI would you feel comfortable buying an $80-90k car?
Anonymous wrote:Another never. I don't want people looking at my car when I drive. I hate being noticed.


Same. Driving an expensive car can get you noticed, and not always in a good way. I don’t want a car that is going to attract attention. I love having the freedom do go where I want to go and have people be none the wiser about my financial status.
I suppose I might consider having a second “fun” car, once my kids are launched.