Anonymous wrote:The notion comes from outdated ideas about old money, which were based on a small subset of people from Massachusetts post-Depression era, who had to economize because they lost money then. Or they lived on trust funds which meant that they had to adhere to essentially a fixed income for life so thet had to be frugal.

The notion also comes from The Millionaire Next Door and the portrait of a modest small business owner (the new geomancy farmer, if you will) and that this was one of the characteristics. Combine that with the other financial writers of the era who said that economizing on everyday items could help a person get ahead: skip the lattes, etc.

I live in CA and rich people drive expensive cars. There is just a lot of emphasis on driving and cars in general but I do think people overextend themselves in order to drive an expensive car because of how it looks.

Rich people today have a lot more money than rich people did 20 years ago.

Anonymous wrote:It is the difference between old money and new money. Go see the old Top Gear segment with James May reviewing the Subaru Outback. Old money likes a well equipped F-150 or Expedition. New money buys something much more flashy.

Anonymous wrote:We’re in this camp. 20 year old Honda with a $5 million NW and $600k income. It’s almost embarrassing sometimes because of the number of dents it has as well as the fact that the dashboard has cracks in multiple places. But it runs well and I don’t worry about someone hitting it after parking it. We’ll probably buy a new Toyota soon with cash and run it into the ground too. Cars are depreciating assets. Why would you spend more?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The rich in DC drive older model cars, walk, bike, uber, and one borrows a car from a friend. It used to be his car. It's almost like he saw the car as a nuisance as he is often away.
They go for convenience, fit, feeling, need, and safety. You'd never know they have money.
They do not drive long distances, but they do fly a lot.
Compare DC to Miami and you know where the notion came from and then maybe from MND.

The school lineup at our kids private school is literally nothing but new luxury sedans and new luxury SUVs. When you see a slightly cheap car you look twice and its a nanny in her personal car.

Private school parents in the DC area are a very self-selective group. Most brand-oriented people in the region. But truly, there are rich people out there driving Toyotas.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Rich people are too money smart to waste money on an overpriced status symbol car. They don't want other people to know how rich they are.

Yeah, you really must not spend much time with people of significant wealth. The Sam Waltons of the world are rare. The billionaires I know personally all have at least one if not two very large private planes, giant houses and drivers. A few have 24/7 security teams beyond just home security.

A lot of old money is running out of money, so yeah, they aren't buying expensive cars.

If you're talking about the people with 4 - 5M in retirement accounts, then I would agree, plenty of these people are not buying expensive SUVs. I think when people who have made their own money hit about 8M, then the cars get nicer.

This is such a baffling conversation. A new BMW costs about 65k. A few years used it goes down to much, much less, under 40k. That is really nothing for anyone wealthy, and I don't mean billionaires, as long as you keep that car for a decent amount of time. I think people here (and I've never heard people talk like this irl!) assign some special value to Hondas, as if they signaled humility and thrift. But they can be just as expensive as luxury cars.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Obviously not 100% true, but I know examples who fit this trope. We make $2M/year. We drive an old and basic model VW Atlas and a minivan. My neighbors and my best friend are both super extended (money stress has come up multiple times in multiple ways with them). They have huge mortgages and private school but lease new luxury cars. So my sample size of 3 fits!

+1

There are plenty of both sides. We were worth over $10M and I was still driving a 14 yo SUV (it was low end luxury we had bought new). And then I sold it (for 30% of what I originally paid), we didn't need it and drove the teen's Honda for 2 years while they were at college without a car---Then bought a new one once they took car to college. We also didn't have a mortgage during this time, so could easily have afforded a newer/nicer vehicle.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The rich in DC drive older model cars, walk, bike, uber, and one borrows a car from a friend. It used to be his car. It's almost like he saw the car as a nuisance as he is often away.
They go for convenience, fit, feeling, need, and safety. You'd never know they have money.
They do not drive long distances, but they do fly a lot.
Compare DC to Miami and you know where the notion came from and then maybe from MND.

The school lineup at our kids private school is literally nothing but new luxury sedans and new luxury SUVs. When you see a slightly cheap car you look twice and its a nanny in her personal car.