Anonymous wrote:We bought our Subaru in MD, we paid cash. I asked the finance/title guy how often people paid cash for their Subaru. He said over 50% at their dealership.

For the average new car, only 15% pay cash and buy it outright.

This is what makes Subaru a bougie car - it draws people who can afford to skip financing or leasing.

That is actually a very interesting factoid. I wonder what % pay cash at a Mercedes dealership.

Anonymous wrote:We bought our Subaru in MD, we paid cash. I asked the finance/title guy how often people paid cash for their Subaru. He said over 50% at their dealership.

For the average new car, only 15% pay cash and buy it outright.

This is what makes Subaru a bougie car - it draws people who can afford to skip financing or leasing.

Yawn. We bought our bmws in cash too. Stop trying to make Subarus aspirational. They are no more or less so than any random Toyota at this point.

No they are not “rich people” cars, although it may depend on how you define ‘rich people’. Some rich people drive them because they are millionaire next door types. And some rich people would never drive a Subaru. But there are all types of rich folk and all types of cars they drive.

I have a Forester and I love it. We can afford any car but I’m happy with one that is simple, basic, never has a problem and doesn’t mind being dirty and full of my junk.

My husband is over 6 ft and the forester has a lot of head room, and he can sit comfortably in either front seat without crushing our kids’ legs in the back. And we like to be able to take the dog with us without getting dog hair on the seats. That’s mostly why we have a Subaru.

I drove a Subaru when I was 23 and barely making rent on a studio apartment. I'm driving my 4th Subaru now in my mid 40s and an income over $400K. I've felt perfectly at home in them all along. I'd actually say it's one of the few cars (along with Toyota) that truly crosses socioeconomic boundaries. People from all walks of life love then.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We bought our Subaru in MD, we paid cash. I asked the finance/title guy how often people paid cash for their Subaru. He said over 50% at their dealership.

For the average new car, only 15% pay cash and buy it outright.

This is what makes Subaru a bougie car - it draws people who can afford to skip financing or leasing.

I got one yesterday and went with 100% financing. I guess I should've gotten a chevy?

We financed (a couple years ago) at under 1%! I think Subaru owners are well-educated, tend to be white, liberal (NPR anyone?) and MC/UMC, not necessarily rich.

Anonymous wrote:We bought our Subaru in MD, we paid cash. I asked the finance/title guy how often people paid cash for their Subaru. He said over 50% at their dealership.

For the average new car, only 15% pay cash and buy it outright.

This is what makes Subaru a bougie car - it draws people who can afford to skip financing or leasing.

I got one yesterday and went with 100% financing. I guess I should've gotten a chevy?

I know a lot of wealthy people. Despite what DCUM claims, they tend to drive luxury cars. I can’t offhand think of anyone I know who is wealthy and drives a Subaru but there are several kids at our private schools with wealthy parents who do.

I'll bet the average income of a Suburu buyer is pretty high compared to a lot of other brands. Buyers tend to hold onto them so there are relatively fewer used Subs compared to other brands. My entire family used to be Toyota buyers but now we just buy Suburus.

Cons: style, interior, performance of older models, very common head gasket issues after 75k miles.

Pros: reliable, dealers are not allowed to raise prices above MSRP, very low insurance, can handle a good bit of abuse, some models like the Forrester are made completely in Japan.

We bought our Subaru in MD, we paid cash. I asked the finance/title guy how often people paid cash for their Subaru. He said over 50% at their dealership.

For the average new car, only 15% pay cash and buy it outright.

This is what makes Subaru a bougie car - it draws people who can afford to skip financing or leasing.

Sure, you better be rich if you like replacing transmissions and leaky cylinder head gaskets.

Anonymous wrote:I don’t really care about cars and I find my Subaru to be expensive and boring, but it’s great for tall people. It’s a Forester and it’s really tall I guess, or it just feels tall inside somehow. Way, way roomier for the very tall than the CRV or the RAV4.

My DH is 6'2" and finds the forestor a bit too small. He has a short torso and long legs, and his head just about grazes the roof.

I think the Ascent or Outback would be a better fit for him. He's looking to get an Outback.

I enjoyed reading this thread and seeing what a total cliche I am:

Live in Arlington
Replaced the Volvo wagon with an Outback wagon
Gave Outback to kid and bought another Outback
Have a BIL in Pennsyltucky who drives a Forester (has Trump bumper sticker)
My elderly mother has a Forester because it's easy to get into and has lots of safety features

Anonymous wrote:

There is an ongoing narrative on DCUM that wealthy people buy cheap cars because "they are very careful with their money." If you actually are wealthy you know this is not true lol

Apparently my dad who I mentioned upthread is imaginary.

it's a stupid DCUM trope. there are certainly a couple of richie riches who drive crap cars - like your dad apparently - but most rich people drive nice cars. or if they have a crap car, it's in addition to their nice car.