THEY ARE LEASING THEIR CARS

Debt. Or gift from parent.

I know three low earning people who bought cars that were too expensive. Not $80k expensive, but way too expensive for their income and financial situation. Here are the reasons:
1.) Couple #1 paid cash for $50k+ Acura SUV, because they had 'nothing else to do with the money'. Their visa status doesn't allow investing yet. Both work in service industry making $40k max.
2.) Couple #2 is know for dopamine seeking shopping. They are renters, often between jobs or/and self-employed. They bought Tesla SUV with a loan and since it's shared by two people, they consider it half the price.
3.) Young man got taken to cleaners at the dealership buying his first cars. Some Ford SUV costing $40k+ while he works as a barista. He didn't consider insurance expense and that his friend was going to crash it.
The amount of credit available to people who have good jobs, is very high. They may also have family money and investments.

Anonymous wrote:Any financial advisor will tell you that one of the worst purchases you can make is an expensive car. These people are buying them for show. The really wealthy and smart people are buying Hondas and Toyotas for cash and keep them for ten years.

I bought a used BMW for half the price of my sister’s new Honda. But, judge away!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any financial advisor will tell you that one of the worst purchases you can make is an expensive car. These people are buying them for show. The really wealthy and smart people are buying Hondas and Toyotas for cash and keep them for ten years.

This. People who buy these luxury cars to make other think that they're high rollers are usually the ones who are financing them up to their eyeballs. People with real wealth don't need an $80,000 Lexus to show it. They stick with the $35,000 Camry and invest the rest.

OP, don't be jealous of these people.

I don't really agree with this. If someone makes $1m+ a year, buying an $80k lexus vs a $35 camry will not alter their future financial trajectory one bit. And why would someone who has obviously worked hard to get to that level want to drive around in a cheap, ugly, low-performance car like a camry? Treating yourself with a nice car that you spend a lot of time in and want to be safe and secure makes a lot of sense.

The Camry is one of the best selling cars on the planet, so clearly millions of people aren't bothered by driving this "cheap, ugly, low-performance car".

It's very meh. Many people DGAF about what they drive so they'll buy this without putting much effort into it.

Other people like cars and will research and spend accordingly.

Please. I’ve driven many vehicles and prefer a Camry over the so-called “luxury” vehicles that break down 5x more often. We do GAF but care about reliability not looking flashy.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any financial advisor will tell you that one of the worst purchases you can make is an expensive car. These people are buying them for show. The really wealthy and smart people are buying Hondas and Toyotas for cash and keep them for ten years.

I bought a Honda because I’m not wealthy.

Nothing wrong with spending $80k or more if you can actually afford it. But most cannot. We did not do it until we were worth $25m+. Before that we paid cash for $40-50k vehicles and drove them 10+ years. Now we have a 95k vehicle and put 5k miles per year only. But it's fun to drive

My first car cost 20k when I made 80k/yr and -30k net worth. I didn’t feel like it was a burden to afford. Waiting until 25M to buy one for 80k is wild

Some people lease.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any financial advisor will tell you that one of the worst purchases you can make is an expensive car. These people are buying them for show. The really wealthy and smart people are buying Hondas and Toyotas for cash and keep them for ten years.

I bought a Honda because I’m not wealthy.

Nothing wrong with spending $80k or more if you can actually afford it. But most cannot. We did not do it until we were worth $25m+. Before that we paid cash for $40-50k vehicles and drove them 10+ years. Now we have a 95k vehicle and put 5k miles per year only. But it's fun to drive

Same way that people around here afford 7 figure houses in their 20’s on a single income and practically no work experience

Parents

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any financial advisor will tell you that one of the worst purchases you can make is an expensive car. These people are buying them for show. The really wealthy and smart people are buying Hondas and Toyotas for cash and keep them for ten years.

This. People who buy these luxury cars to make other think that they're high rollers are usually the ones who are financing them up to their eyeballs. People with real wealth don't need an $80,000 Lexus to show it. They stick with the $35,000 Camry and invest the rest.

OP, don't be jealous of these people.

I don't really agree with this. If someone makes $1m+ a year, buying an $80k lexus vs a $35 camry will not alter their future financial trajectory one bit. And why would someone who has obviously worked hard to get to that level want to drive around in a cheap, ugly, low-performance car like a camry? Treating yourself with a nice car that you spend a lot of time in and want to be safe and secure makes a lot of sense.

+1

We make over $1M and I just buy whatever car I like the most. Sometimes it's >$100k and sometimes it's closer to $50k. I don't worry about the price; I worry about the function and comfort. I wouldn't intentionally buy a cheaper car to save a few bucks. And I wouldn't intentionally buy a $$$$$ to impress anyone else.

you must buy a lot of cars

We do. 3 drivers and we all like cars.

We have three perfectly fine cars right now that we enjoy, but we put down a deposit on two new cool new models coming out next year. Neither is $$$$ but they both have cool features. We had a deposit on a third one that is $$$$ but canceled because we didn't love it as much. TBD on what we end up deciding to keep out of the bunch. We will have a fourth driver in another year...

And BTW no one has any idea how much money we make. It's not obvious from our roles/job titles (not feds).

Because they prioritize looking rich over being wealthy.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any financial advisor will tell you that one of the worst purchases you can make is an expensive car. These people are buying them for show. The really wealthy and smart people are buying Hondas and Toyotas for cash and keep them for ten years.

This. People who buy these luxury cars to make other think that they're high rollers are usually the ones who are financing them up to their eyeballs. People with real wealth don't need an $80,000 Lexus to show it. They stick with the $35,000 Camry and invest the rest.

OP, don't be jealous of these people.

I don't really agree with this. If someone makes $1m+ a year, buying an $80k lexus vs a $35 camry will not alter their future financial trajectory one bit. And why would someone who has obviously worked hard to get to that level want to drive around in a cheap, ugly, low-performance car like a camry? Treating yourself with a nice car that you spend a lot of time in and want to be safe and secure makes a lot of sense.

The Camry is one of the best selling cars on the planet, so clearly millions of people aren't bothered by driving this "cheap, ugly, low-performance car".

It's very meh. Many people DGAF about what they drive so they'll buy this without putting much effort into it.

Other people like cars and will research and spend accordingly.

Many just finance their 2 new cars.

Anonymous wrote:Everyone who doesn't live that lifestyle thinks its just debt. But i really think the whole DC Metro area is disproportionately wealthy compared to most of the country. Some of it is high income and some is passed down through family.

I think ive met one person in my life who tried to over leverage debt to live a luxurious lifestyle and ended up bankrupt. Its more common I see poor people living like their poor and wealthy people living like they're wealthy.

+1

Lots of wealthy people here. You are underestimated people's salaries.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any financial advisor will tell you that one of the worst purchases you can make is an expensive car. These people are buying them for show. The really wealthy and smart people are buying Hondas and Toyotas for cash and keep them for ten years.

This. People who buy these luxury cars to make other think that they're high rollers are usually the ones who are financing them up to their eyeballs. People with real wealth don't need an $80,000 Lexus to show it. They stick with the $35,000 Camry and invest the rest.

OP, don't be jealous of these people.

I don't really agree with this. If someone makes $1m+ a year, buying an $80k lexus vs a $35 camry will not alter their future financial trajectory one bit. And why would someone who has obviously worked hard to get to that level want to drive around in a cheap, ugly, low-performance car like a camry? Treating yourself with a nice car that you spend a lot of time in and want to be safe and secure makes a lot of sense.

The Camry is one of the best selling cars on the planet, so clearly millions of people aren't bothered by driving this "cheap, ugly, low-performance car".

I hate to say it but buying a camry is like shopping at walmart.

No, a camry is way better built than most automobiles. If you want to compare something to Walmart, it would be buying a Kia.