Anonymous
Post 06/07/2024 09:58     Subject: How are there so many $60, $70, $80+ thousand dollar cars on the road??
Anonymous wrote: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.


No one asked to hear your brag.
Anonymous
Post 06/07/2024 09:56     Subject: Re:How are there so many $60, $70, $80+ thousand dollar cars on the road??
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
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.


It’s pretty easy to lease a car, OP.


And leasing is 99% of time, a really dumb financial decision. But then again, plenty of people buy homes with 5% down that they really cannot afford (and definately don't need), take fancy vacations that they can't afford and don't save enough for college/retirement. Most Americans don't know how to budget and plan


PP here. Of course leasing is a stupid financial decision. But the kinds of vapid morons who drive cars they can’t afford are already financially illiterate so of course they lease.

Literally everyone who leases a car is dumb.


Yup! There is no scenario where it makes financial sense. Some say "its the way to get a new car every 2 years". Well that in and of itself is not smart. Nobody needs a new car every 2 years. Buy and drive for at least 4-5 years minimum.

And yes, many in America are financially illiterate. Most don't get "wants" vs "needs" and how to delay gratification. Kids start in their 20s and want to live just like mom and dad, but don't realize M&D didn't live in that 3K+ luxury home and drive luxury cars when they were 22. We lived in cheap apartments and drove basic cars while we paid off our student loans and saved for our first home.

Anonymous
Post 06/07/2024 09:52     Subject: How are there so many $60, $70, $80+ thousand dollar cars on the road??
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:When I saw a fancy, expensive new car on the road I used to think that person must be really good with money. Now I know that they are pretty stupid with money.


Precisely. Cars are depreciating assets and false shields that weak people hide behind.


There is a lot of money around DC. I do mean *a lot of money*. You'd be foolish to think people with fancy cars are struggling with loans and debts. The reality is simply that there are a lot of high earning households around the DMV and in Maryland and Virginia. People have a lot of money. How many times do I need to drive home this point.



Disappointing that all this money translates into the driving of luxury cars for personal satisfaction as opposed to the opening of charitable foundations for the betterment of society. DH and I have an HHI of $3.6M, yet $2.8M of that goes right out the door and into our own foundation to fund scholarships for kids (girls and minorities, especially) pursuing STEM fields in college. We drive a 2021 Hyundai Elantra and a 2017 Toyota Corolla. Guess we’re just cut from a different cloth.


That is your choice. Some of us are charitable with our time and some of our money. Most are not going to gift that much and that is okay. I pay enough in taxes to be "helping society" and we target small organizations that are near and dear to us
Anonymous
Post 06/07/2024 09:49     Subject: How are there so many $60, $70, $80+ thousand dollar cars on the road??
Anonymous wrote: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.


lol sure. You must not know actual “rich” people.
Anonymous
Post 06/07/2024 09:47     Subject: How are there so many $60, $70, $80+ thousand dollar cars on the road??
Anonymous wrote:
I wonder the same. Car prices are too much. And none of us knows how much it really costs to make a car. We have been trained to think $20,000 is cheap for a car and that $50,000 is reasonable.


Most car manufacturers are publicly-traded companies, so their financials are public too.

If you think they are making outsized profits, then buy stock in them so you can benefit from that.
Anonymous
Post 06/07/2024 09:46     Subject: Re:How are there so many $60, $70, $80+ thousand dollar cars on the road??
Anonymous wrote:
Literally everyone who leases a car is dumb.


Leasing can be a very wise decision if the vehicle is used for business purposes and the company is paying. This way it doesn't show up on the balance sheet as a liability (depends on the lease type of course).
Anonymous
Post 06/07/2024 09:39     Subject: Re:How are there so many $60, $70, $80+ thousand dollar cars on the road??
Have you not heard of certified preowned cars?
Anonymous
Post 06/07/2024 09:36     Subject: How are there so many $60, $70, $80+ thousand dollar cars on the road??
First off there are tons of very rich people in the DMV. And judging from my colleagues, there tons of people who make $400k+ and choose to live in the far exurbs in houses that cost much less than inside the beltway.

Secondly, not all $70k cars are $70k. I drive a car that would have been $75k brand new off the lot, but I bought it used at 2 years old and I got $15k for my trade in. I ended up paying $34k to drive a new-enough luxury SUV.
Anonymous
Post 06/07/2024 09:34     Subject: How are there so many $60, $70, $80+ thousand dollar cars on the road??
Meh. My parents make less than us and drive BMWs and keep telling me that i need to get a fancier car than my Toyota now that i got promoted to management. Their house is paid off and they will have fed pensions. I have little kids and crumbs all over the car, no garage and have to put kids through college eventually on $300k HHI.
Anonymous
Post 06/07/2024 09:31     Subject: How are there so many $60, $70, $80+ thousand dollar cars on the road??
Anonymous wrote:How many threads need to occur for people to conclude that different people prioritize spending in different ways? You may think an 80k car is a waste of money, someone else may think a 10k trip to Europe is a waste of money, another person may think a 15k refrigerator is a waste of money, and still others may think that jewelry, or central air conditioning, or cable tv are.

I don’t really think it’s reasonable to decide not to spend any money on things that technically you could live without or have the less expensive option. We get one life, dying with millions and yet being austere the entire time is just sad.


This is the best response so far. For such cultured, educated people this is the concept that’s lost on most people.
Anonymous
Post 06/07/2024 09:28     Subject: How are there so many $60, $70, $80+ thousand dollar cars on the road??
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:When I saw a fancy, expensive new car on the road I used to think that person must be really good with money. Now I know that they are pretty stupid with money.


Precisely. Cars are depreciating assets and false shields that weak people hide behind.


There is a lot of money around DC. I do mean *a lot of money*. You'd be foolish to think people with fancy cars are struggling with loans and debts. The reality is simply that there are a lot of high earning households around the DMV and in Maryland and Virginia. People have a lot of money. How many times do I need to drive home this point.



Disappointing that all this money translates into the driving of luxury cars for personal satisfaction as opposed to the opening of charitable foundations for the betterment of society. DH and I have an HHI of $3.6M, yet $2.8M of that goes right out the door and into our own foundation to fund scholarships for kids (girls and minorities, especially) pursuing STEM fields in college. We drive a 2021 Hyundai Elantra and a 2017 Toyota Corolla. Guess we’re just cut from a different cloth.


Aww.... you poor thing. And racist and bigoted too.

As it is, pretty sure you're fake or trolling.
Anonymous
Post 06/07/2024 08:49     Subject: How are there so many $60, $70, $80+ thousand dollar cars on the road??
Lots of people out there willing to spend all their money on a nice car and Versace shirt while living with roommates in Manassas.
Anonymous
Post 06/07/2024 08:38     Subject: How are there so many $60, $70, $80+ thousand dollar cars on the road??
Anonymous wrote:My lease on a 60K car is $500 including everything. That’s what my car payment was for my Honda accord five years ago.

Sometimes people aren’t paying as much as you think.


And what was the capital cost reduction on the lease and how many miles can you drive it a year.

It’s super dumb to lease a car. Astronomically stupid.
Anonymous
Post 06/07/2024 08:37     Subject: Re:How are there so many $60, $70, $80+ thousand dollar cars on the road??
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
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.


It’s pretty easy to lease a car, OP.


And leasing is 99% of time, a really dumb financial decision. But then again, plenty of people buy homes with 5% down that they really cannot afford (and definately don't need), take fancy vacations that they can't afford and don't save enough for college/retirement. Most Americans don't know how to budget and plan


PP here. Of course leasing is a stupid financial decision. But the kinds of vapid morons who drive cars they can’t afford are already financially illiterate so of course they lease.

Literally everyone who leases a car is dumb.
Anonymous
Post 06/07/2024 08:31     Subject: How are there so many $60, $70, $80+ thousand dollar cars on the road??
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:OP is worrying about spending 10% of his annual income on a nice new car? Which he can drive for 10 years without a problem?



Not getting the feeling they are worried, but just not comfortable with spending that much and wonder how others are. I wonder this too.


I wonder the same. Car prices are too much. And none of us knows how much it really costs to make a car. We have been trained to think $20,000 is cheap for a car and that $50,000 is reasonable.

The car industry has us trained and do they ever earn a lot from us.