Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
be very careful with the lease. Dealers like to ask you what you want to pay per month then completely obscure what the actual car price is during your negotiation resulting in potentially agreeing to lease a $36k car that should only cost $30k.
marketers cleverly plant that seed of desire in your head. you really don't want that luxury car.
marketers cleverly plant that seed of desire in your head. you really don't want that luxury car.
They sure do. So does society.
Myself, I make a pretty good living but my wife and I drive Kia/Hyundai vehicles. They're not expensive, come with a good warranty and they're pretty basic for maintenance (which I do myself).
Personally, I don't have the desire for a luxury vehicle. Can I afford one? Yes but I have other ways that are more enjoyable to waste money.
I also use a pre-paid cell phone for $50/month unlimited voice/text with 2.5 GB and no contract. Just don't see the need for a $100/month Verizon when my phone makes calls just as good.
For me, some things just aren't worth spending big money on.
What if you want a new Benz. You save well for the job you have but its a little more than you want to spend.
Anyways how do people get to own luxury vehicles if they are a little more than they want to spend?
Lot of responses, perhaps this has been mentioned, but will say it anyway:
- They lease, building no equity but at least having low payments. Lather, rinse, repeat.
- Many of those cars lose significant value from new in the used market, thus becoming somewhat-affordable...if a few years old.
- Interest rates are very low, if you can quality for that cheap money and bamboozle the lenders into allowing you to carry the debt.
When I was younger, I did the equivalent of the above on a used BMW. Those payments hurt, but I needed/wanted the car and damned if it didn't hold together very well (1989 325i, back when they built them strong). I probably should have aimed lower, but my ego wrote those payment checks. I owned that car about seven years and it only needed $3.5K of work at about 135K miles to keep things solid. My first and only major maintenance on a car I paid $15.3K for (1995 dollars, used). Well worth it.
I personally don't trust Mercedes NOT to have big repair bills, but that's a bit tongue-in-cheek because my Porsche breaks down occasionally, too, usually at $500 or more per repair Not "often" but "often enough" that is should be considered in the price of ownership.
In fact that current ego trip, two decades later, was bought used for significant savings some years ago from the wallet-busting cost of new ($175K). I paid it off early, year or so ago: $1K/month payments were a thorn in my side after about four years. Times change, for the better or worse, and no wonder car payments are a boat anchor. I'm trying to avoid them anymore, though I'm probably kidding myself because I'm somewhat "conditioned" to accept the idea of a vehicle payment.
The overall problem will be people like the ones in this post who will be overly concerned about what you drive, how you got it and what your finances are. If folks spent more time worrying about themselves and less time counting other peoples money the world would be a better place.
That said, I only buy used luxury vehicles. I become active members on the car forums for my make and model. Most problems that arise have already been addressed by someone else. I get info on where to order inexpensive parts and deal only with independent mechanics. Then I sit back and let my co-workers worry themselves to death on how I can afford to drive what I drive, lol.
Yes my car may be few years older, but you would never know it by the body-style. Chances are, I pay waay less than the schmuc driving a Honda, and I don't look or feel like one either.
Last edited by The_Cadillac_Lawyer; 07-08-2015 at 01:49 PM..
Status:
"A solution in search of a problem"
(set 8 days ago)
Location: New York Area
34,378 posts, read 16,495,356 times
Reputation: 29531
Quote:
Originally Posted by Europeanflava
What if you want a new Benz. You save well for the job you have but its a little more than you want to spend.
Anyways how do people get to own luxury vehicles if they are a little more than they want to spend?
I don't know much about you, your profession or your age. In my opinion that is a highly wasteful expenditure. First of all a car loses a lot of its value when it leaves the showroom. Second of all a new or late model used car gives you the same mobility and even such perks as sound systems.
I am a bankruptcy lawyer. Most of the individual filings I see are very sad. What a waste.
It's obviously not fiscally prudent. What's the point? To impress your neighbors? Pick up divas?
A lot of luxury car drivers live in dirt poor ghetto neighborhoods in 25K houses so they have plenty of money left over to blow on cars. That's an option.
Another is to eat cup o noodles six days a week so your can driver the beamer on sundays.
I had a friend who did absolutely nothing with his life but stay at home all month and saved all his $ then rented a late model Corvette to go driving once a month. Cookoo IMO but to each their own.
If you ever go to the hood you have people on welfare driving Mercedes S Class and talking on I Phone 6 living off the taxes of the working class, gotta love America where the working classes support the lower classes, little help from the super rich and the dirt poor please. No wonder the world thinks we are screwed up country.
Oh so it's just in the "hood" where welfare fraud is prevalent? Dang, I learn something everyday on the internet from random people who have no clue what they're talking about.
I bought an Audi TT and everybody was jealous, wondering how I could afford a sports car.
The car only cost me $16,000. It was 6 years old and had 60k miles if I remember right. It was awesome and made me feel great.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.