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Nothing at all...just a over feeling in my stomach.
Also...most peers who drive new cars are leasing them.
I just looked up a couple sources. Depending on your favorite, the range is anywhere from 20-30% of new cars purchased are leased. This means 70-80% of new cars are financed or bought outright.
I also looked up how many new cars are sold each year, and the same for used cars. For new, it's about 17 million per year. Used cars are around 40 million.
So based off this, if my math is right:
17+40 = 57 million car transactions
17MM/57MM = 29.8% of car transactions are new cars
25% of 29.8% new car sales = 7.5% of all car sales are new car leases
It looks like your peers are not in the majority of car buyers -- they represent 25% of all new car buyers, and 7.5% of all car buyers.
I just looked up a couple sources. Depending on your favorite, the range is anywhere from 20-30% of new cars purchased are leased. This means 70-80% of new cars are financed or bought outright.
I also looked up how many new cars are sold each year, and the same for used cars. For new, it's about 17 million per year. Used cars are around 40 million.
So based off this, if my math is right:
17+40 = 57 million car transactions
17MM/57MM = 29.8% of car transactions are new cars
25% of 29.8% new car sales = 7.5% of all car sales are new car leases
It looks like your peers are not in the majority of car buyers -- they represent 25% of all new car buyers, and 7.5% of all car buyers.
I figured someone would do the leg work...thanks.
You wonder if this counts businesses, government, rental car companies ect. I would think that would skew the numbers a bit.
In the past when I was in the market for cars I always made the prudent financial decision. I bought basic dependable cars with no frills that were projected to depreciate the least over the time frame I planned on owning them.
I am car shopping again now, and let me tell you that shopping for a pregnant wife turns my priorities upside down. I really care a lot about the comfort of the seats and the safety ratings, as well as back seat space, braking performance, built in navigation, and the power for merging on an expressway with a full load. I don't care one bit about status or attention, but I do care about my wife and unborn child's comfort and safety. If a 45K SUV or wagon does the job better than a 20K compact car, we're getting the SUV or wagon. Without seeking attention, our car shopping has drifted us into the luxury market in some instances.
I am not going to overextend myself financially to get a car I can't afford, but I am not bargain hunting for the cheapest possible vehicle either. I can absolutely see why the luxury market exists, as a few hundred a month is definitely not a strain and the benefits are very tangible for many people.
In the past when I was in the market for cars I always made the prudent financial decision. I bought basic dependable cars with no frills that were projected to depreciate the least over the time frame I planned on owning them.
I am car shopping again now, and let me tell you that shopping for a pregnant wife turns my priorities upside down. I really care a lot about the comfort of the seats and the safety ratings, as well as back seat space, braking performance, built in navigation, and the power for merging on an expressway with a full load. I don't care one bit about status or attention, but I do care about my wife and unborn child's comfort and safety. If a 45K SUV or wagon does the job better than a 20K compact car, we're getting the SUV or wagon. Without seeking attention, our car shopping has drifted us into the luxury market in some instances.
I am not going to overextend myself financially to get a car I can't afford, but I am not bargain hunting for the cheapest possible vehicle either. I can absolutely see why the luxury market exists, as a few hundred a month is definitely not a strain and the benefits are very tangible for many people.
Go with the bigger, heavier SUV. You'll have more room to carry all the 'stuff' (trust me, they'll be a lot of stuff when the baby is born), plus, you're surrounded by more/heavier steel, can see above the traffic, etc, which all make for a safer environment.
Also, whatever you get, make sure it has a rear camera, automatic gate lift/shut and auto third row if possible.
Maybe I should get a $50k Gold-Plated Toilet--I'd have quality Dumps then, and my butt will be able to tell the difference, too! Bound to cure my constipation, too!
Because I WANT TO!
No, don't stop there, Captain El Bee... Get half a dozen of them!
Maybe one for every day of the week!
"You are free to your opinions but it doesn't mean others have to share them" is right on.
Sound jealous?
Why do you assume I'm 'showing off'?
"Some people simply like nicer things."
My Butt Does!
"Some haters will always be haters."
Now that I've got that out of my system... Toilet or no toilet...
It's about being Practical with your money.
Not wasteful either.
If you are wasteful then I'd say you've got some kind of psychological problem. WHY does a particular material possession make you feel better? More to the point, how long will this feeling last? Long enough for you to realize you made a big mistake?
My father has been in the car business 40 years, I will tell that a car is a bad investment. Don't get me wrong, we need them, but cars depreciate, (unless you have a rare sports car like a Z06 Vette or a Saleen Mustang),. I think Americans love for cars isn't a good thing at times. Look at the people that drive a car that costs half, (or more), of what they make a year. Or these idiots that spend thousands on after-market accessories for their car or truck, if anything they can make the value drop more. A lot of these folks scrape each month to make that high dollar vehicle payment. Not too f*cking bright. I'm glad I don't have a car payment. Financially it would be tight if I did, (especially with work being slow), but its relief knowing I have the title and don't have to pay on it each month.
I agree cars right now are way over priced, even used. If one could afford it and has the credit you're actually better off buying new right now because of the rebates. Obama's wonderful "cash for clunkers" idea took a lot of the cheap affordable cars OFF the market. You know, the ones that people without money or good credit can buy, the same people he vowed to help. Just sayi
Great post I have been saying this for years and Americans get so defensive over their love of cars.
i can,..,but I'm happy with my lumped out toyota corolla.
I personally never have been interested in indulging in cars, clothes, jewelry, etc. I'd prefer to use my hard earned cheddar to book a trip to somewhere nice, like the Virgin Islands, Fiji Islands, Spain, etc.
Americans are overly optimistic and overconfident in general. Europeans are overly pessimistic. That's why Americans are in debt and believe in the unrealistic American Dream of making their way up the economic ladder. Europeans are less in debt and demand more protections and safety nets from their governments. In the balance Europeans have the more realistic view on the financial life IMO. We should therefore go less in debt and demand more protections against adverse life events like UE, safe pensions, disability, paid sick and other leaves etc. You cannot have one without the other if you want to be realistic in life.
You sound like one of those people at the anti-1%er rallies?
Don't hate people because they are more successful than you.
There are lots of people out there that don't have money worries who drive $80K cars, $100K boat, travel to nice island resorts, etc and still go to bed at night not worrying about money.
I like driving a nice car (I'm a big SUV guy). I like walking up to my car in a parking lot, looking at it and saying 'wow, that's a nice car. I'm sure glad I didn't get a Prius.'
No, not rallies. Let's just say that I DESPISE WASTE.
I'm surrounded by the entitled pricks of America and I see how they Waste: food, fuel, electricity, resources...you-name-it. I see them residing in huge McMansions which could hold a dozen families as opposed to one fat little spoiled family of two people. I've also seen them prejudge and condemn people like myself before I care about the environment and wildlife--whereas They go out of their way to destroy it, even if it's just so passers-by can have full 360-degree views of their estates.
I have issues with SUVs but I won't discuss them here, as I've done so elsewhere and others have done a better job. It involves such things as a dangerous center-of-mass, fuel inefficiency, braking problems, fuel inefficiency, greenhouse gas emissions, and other technical details which would undoubtedly make me sound like an ass to bring up. Furthermore there's Too Many Of Them on the roads via the Keeping Up With The Joneses' route and the need to buy canons to swat flies...which is what the whole McMansion Craze is all about, incidentally. The real reason behind it is below:
From my experience, people who waste money on conspicuous consumption items do so because they're insecure and seek recognition. They are inherently unstable inside, often with anger-management issues if you Don't acknowledge them. In other words, they thrive on attention. Cutoff that attention supply and, well...it builds up in them and the narcissist will sooner or later bust a gasket or something. Donald Trump's a fine example.
Again, just my own personal experience here on the East Coast. Maybe things are different in other regions of the country?
Go to my previous post regarding the gold-plated toilet for more fun.
Here are a couple of big hints:
They don't own them
They never will own them
If you were to find out where some of these people live. It is usually with their parents or with a bunch of other people together. Thats how most can afford these vehicles. Some people have a skewed impression of themselves. Like it makes them more important then they really are, or trying to make a false impression. Cant judge a book by its cover. Wait until some of these folks try and get these vehicles worked on. A realization of who they really are.
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