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Just because someone is leasing doesn't mean they "can't afford" the car.
I know millionaires who lease nice cars because they like to drive something every few years. They've done the math and it works out better for them to lease than to buy and sell every couple of years.
We can agree that majority of luxury car buyers buy it for status and to show off, yet no one here has admitted that. Everyone has been giving excuses like "Well I buy it for safety!"
1. lol safety is a marginal thing. Your chance of having accident where it wasn't your fault (drunk driving, not paying attention) is like 0.5%?
Now, the chance of your car's safety features actually saving you compared to an "inferior" car is like 20%?
0.05 x 0.02 = 0.001
So spending an extra $30K to get 0.001 chance of better protection is worth it?
We can agree that majority of luxury car buyers buy it for status and to show off, yet no one here has admitted that. Everyone has been giving excuses like "Well I buy it for safety!"
1. lol safety is a marginal thing. Your chance of having accident where it wasn't your fault (drunk driving, not paying attention) is like 0.5%?
Now, the chance of your car's safety features actually saving you compared to an "inferior" car is like 20%?
0.05 x 0.02 = 0.001
So spending an extra $30K to get 0.001 chance of better protection is worth it?
few people are going to admit it. and even fewer people who would browse the "personal finance" forums on the internet. but that doesn't mean that everyone buys it for those reasons.
and you know what - we pay a premium for a lot of things for safety, so i can somewhat buy that line of thought. I've got 2 kids, and while most cars come with rear airbags now, i wouldn't even contemplate buying a car that didn't. a friend in highschool was in a coma for 6 months, before side curtain airbags had trickled down to the moderately priced cars. if she had it, she wouldn't have even been injured.
"worth it" is relative. i'm not sure you need to spend $30k extra to ge tthe safety features you need/want these days. but springing for a volvo that has these things and built in booster seats might be something a parent views as worth it, but others do not.
i think a recent study came out that said adaptive cruise control and the sensory braking systems reduce accidents by 16%. but the lane-awareness feature showed no real benefit.
with that knowledge, I certainly hope more people in NJ purchase cars with adaptive cruise control and sensory braking, cause our accident rate could use a 16% drop!
few people are going to admit it. and even fewer people who would browse the "personal finance" forums on the internet. but that doesn't mean that everyone buys it for those reasons.
and you know what - we pay a premium for a lot of things for safety, so i can somewhat buy that line of thought. I've got 2 kids, and while most cars come with rear airbags now, i wouldn't even contemplate buying a car that didn't. a friend in highschool was in a coma for 6 months, before side curtain airbags had trickled down to the moderately priced cars. if she had it, she wouldn't have even been injured.
"worth it" is relative. i'm not sure you need to spend $30k extra to ge tthe safety features you need/want these days. but springing for a volvo that has these things and built in booster seats might be something a parent views as worth it, but others do not.
i think a recent study came out that said adaptive cruise control and the sensory braking systems reduce accidents by 16%. but the lane-awareness feature showed no real benefit.
with that knowledge, I certainly hope more people in NJ purchase cars with adaptive cruise control and sensory braking, cause our accident rate could use a 16% drop!
But if we break it down mathematically, your chance of accident where it wasn't your fault is around 1% (or 0.01)
So for your argument's sake, let's agree that it reduces accidents by 16%.
0.01 x 0.16 = 0.0016
Now, if a magical genie came up to you and said, I will promise to reduce your accidents by 0.0016 if you fork over $30K, would you really do it?
The safety features are negligible period and even more in regards to the money paid. On the road, the greatest safety feature is to drive safely. Paying 30K extra for 0.0016 extra in safety features is irrational and basically an excuse to get a luxury car to show off.
There is nothing wrong with showing off, just admit that you like to do it.
Well, like i said, it's not necessarily an extra $30K for the safety features. I drive 22 miles to work each day, and literally every single day, minus a few exceptions, I drive past an accident on the Interstate in NJ. I drive safely and defensively, for the most part, but with all the distracted drivers on the road these days, I'm all for many of the new safety features. Would *I* go out and spend $30k more on a car to reduce my chances of accidents? Nope, I wouldn't. But I might spend $5k more or $10k more.
I'm hoping adaptive cruise control filters down into more models before my next purchase, but if it doesn't, I may spring for a vehicle that has it. I was skeptical of the lane-awareness feature available on some cars on my last purchase, and I passed on springing for the few models that had it at the time.
Also - i wouldn't buy a car that had those safety features but not a good reliability record.
Like i said, most people probably do buy them to show off. but some people buy them for their own reasons, and don't really care what other people think of them. I doubt I'll ever spend $80k on a car that is not a "fun car" for me that I'd hardly ever drive. But then i'd be mad the first time it got dinged which in NJ would be pretty quickly.
My wife spent 20 years at a bank and everyday several people would come into get a loan for a car purchase. To get the loan the persons financial history and their current financial status has to be reviewed to qualify for the loan. She told me that 90% of the people are living paycheck to paycheck and they are getting the most expensive vehicle they can afford out of their monthly income. The other 10% are truly well off and really don't need to borrow the money.
Car purchases - as with many money decisions - have several NON money/finance related factors that influence the decision -- MOST subconscious: what we learned from family about money, debt, budgeting and spending.....do we feel we work hard and "deserve" what we want regardless of affordability -- even our own personal definition of "affordability" itself. Are we easily influenced by advertising to even WANT the car we choose, are we influenced by comparing ourselves to others. It's NOT just as simple as are we "spenders' or 'savers' It's not that simple. WHY are we that way?
I know that I personally can fall victim to coveting what others have. Just this past weekend I saw two cousins -- one with a BMW convertible, the other with a Mercedes convertible. Both cars designs wise are, IMO, gorgeous cars. So of course my first thought is 'damn how can she afford that car. I like that car, I'd like a car like that."
But the truth if I step back a minute to THINK rationally is --I DO NOT know either of their financial situations, and one of them is married, so 2 incomes. Well, if I'm SINK, unless my income is high enough I just have to accept that I can't have what a 2 income couple has. Then again if they have 2 incomes and kids, and TWO cars, why shouldn't I be able to have a luxury car? Since I DO NOT have some of their expenses so shouldn't that make up for the fact that I only have one income? But are they saving for retirement? Who knows. From the OUTSIDE, it does sure look like they're doing better than me. And they may INDEED be doing better than I am. BUT the older I get, I try to cut that thought process and that line of thinking off right at the start. "NO, I don't know their situation, what looks good may not be -- so don't go there."
How -- and on which items -- we all spend our money -- and make our financial decisions in general - debt, savings, budgeting, etc. - -let alone which car to buy, buy a house or rent, travel or save for retirement, etc -- really are one big study in psychology, sociology --and a couple of other "ologies" as well.
If car safety is a rationale for example -- does one have to buy a luxury car to get a certain level of safety. What if there's no real statistical difference in protection, between a car at 25-thou and one at 50-thou -- well ,THEN what's the rationale.
There's no issue with justifying a purchase. It's that many times people don't realize that's all it is -- justification ...just because. ..which is fine but say that's what it is -- I just want the luxury car. It makes me "FEEL" a certain way.
Yep. I've traded a car in every time I bought a new one. Hell, I've bought 3 new vehicles in the last 18 months! It's my choice, no one elses. I haven't rolled any negative equity anywhere, my bills are paid every month and I have money left over.
I swore I'd never pay 30 grand for a car...then I swore I'd never pay 40 after I paid 32 for the first Grand Cherokee I had, a 2012. I traded that one in a year after I bought it for a 2014. I barely squeaked in under 40 on that one with TTL. I wanted the features the 2014 came with (new infotainment setup, new tranny, new rear end, yadda yadda) that my 2012 didn't have. Whenever I trade this one in for a new one, I won't be surprised if I go over 40 grand. Bought a new motorcycle last year too since I laid the old one down and totaled it. All these posts from people trashing people who buy new cars are nuts. If you don't want to buy a new car, fine, that's your choice. I have no problems with used cars, I've bought two of them. But I don't have an issue buying new cars and that's my choice, as well as it being the choice of everyone who buys new cars. And just because one person can't afford to spend 40 grand on a car doesn't mean that no one else can either.
Yowza -- I hope you're okay.
My personal opinion? People perceive great value in luxury cars. They feel they hold up better, they run longer, they hold their value better and in general people talk themselves into it for a variety of reasons.
Sort of like buying a Birkin bag at 14K vs a Dooney & Bourke for 400 bucks vs Target at 20.... or a name designer blazer -- you can get a "real" one, or one from the designers diffusion line from Kohls or a total knock off somewhere else.
People want what they want, and they will look for ways to justify their decision.
It's not up to me to spend other's people cash, and it's not up to me to judge how people spend their cash.... although I see so many people without a pot to pee in with high end cars, I now kinda assume people are poor when they have a high end car. I guess that's kind of judgey, but hey -- I'm human.
Wow... Here I thought this thread was going to be about how someone else has noticed just how ridiculous the price of new vehicles has become....
And even used cars are ridiculous as well.
I live in an area where many people have larger car payments than house payments.
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