Why do so many middle class people purchase luxury cars? (German, brake)
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A lot of people figure "I will never be able to live in a mansion or travel the world, but I can drive a nice car." It’s not a mindset that I’d ever live, but some people do.
There’s a reason that off lease price sounds so reasonable.
With all due respect, like what?
Isn't that the same as stating that there is a reason that a used car's price sounds reasonable?
One can find off-lease cars that have mostly highway miles or are even below the 12k per year mileage imposed on most lease owners.
Buying off-lease or used doesn't necessarily mean that the car was driven harshly. You can mitigate that risk by buying a reliable-model off-lease car in a rural area and that has a better CPO program certification (if you are worried about it).
If you buy only three years out than you can often benefit from 1-2 years left on the power-train warranty and you can often get an additional CPO warranty with it (or buy a reliable make and model without it to save the premium that is added for the certification).
One can find used luxury cars that have similar maintenance costs than almost any non-luxury car and have better reliability than any of them.
You have to look at the data for each make and model.
What's the downside? Unless you simply are of the philosophy that it only makes sense to buy new. I've met people like that and understand. I've met people that think that it only makes sense to lease.
My proposal is that if you think that used cars can make sense in-general (which is generally a repair schedule / cost in relation to purchase price calculation), then the used luxury car market can be a strongly compelling competitor to the new non-luxury car market at the same buy-in. And that this calculation can readily account for middle class luxury car ownership.
Though some people are assuredly like my brother-in-law, who has retained an adolescent-obsession with cars and will continuously do everything in his power to buy and sell cars seemingly with the goal of absorbing as much of the steepest part of the depreciation curve as possible before he begins again. He's sometimes in a luxury vehicle that he leased or purchased new. It sometimes takes him three whole years before he imagines some need that it doesn't fulfill and he gives himself permission to dump it and buy another.
If you buy only three years out than you can often benefit from 1-2 years left on the power-train warranty and you can often get an additional CPO warranty with it (or buy a reliable make and model without it to save the premium that is added for the certification).
I ended up buying non-CPO and buying a manufacturer-linked extended warranty.
The total amount ended up being similar, but the extended warranty was tailored... more time, less miles.
This way I don't have miles that I'm never going to use.
Instead, it's much longer. Car won't be out of warranty until it's 9 years old.
I lease because I see no pride in car ownership like others do. A vehicle is nothing more than a depreciating appliance that will one day be sent to a scrap metal yard. I prefer having the peace of mind of always driving a car that will be covered under warranty. I have little time and patience to deal with shady mechanics and the headaches associated with big ticket maintenance issues such as transmission failure. In the past 5yrs I havent spent any money maintaining my car other than car washes and wiper blades. Even my oil changes are covered for the duration of my leases which I take full advantage of.
I find the older I get, the more I am starting to appreciate this point of view.
I'm getting sick of working on cars. I'd rather spend my time enjoying life. Of course I still do have one car I view as a hobby vehicle.
I ended up buying non-CPO and buying a manufacturer-linked extended warranty.
The total amount ended up being similar, but the extended warranty was tailored... more time, less miles.
This way I don't have miles that I'm never going to use.
Instead, it's much longer. Car won't be out of warranty until it's 9 years old.
That's great.
Out of curiosity, would you mind sharing the auto brand, where you purchased the warranty (at a dealership or a used car lot), and if the warranty covers dealership maintenance and oem parts or if the work needs to be done by a cheaper mechanic and using off-brand parts?
Out of curiosity, would you mind sharing the auto brand, where you purchased the warranty (at a dealership or a used car lot), and if the warranty covers dealership maintenance and oem parts or if the work needs to be done by a cheaper mechanic and using off-brand parts?
Again, it seems like a great deal.
The car is a 2015 Cadillac XTS Platinum with pretty much every option (yes, even Platinums have options).
The warranty is an Ally (the former GMAC) warranty and was purchased at a Cadillac dealer.
It's the highest coverage level. I wanted all of the myriad electronic gizmos this complex car has to be covered.
All warranty work has to be done at a GM dealer... in my case, a Cadillac dealer. No off brand stuff.
No maintenance, but Cadillac maintenance is no more expensive or extensive than any other GM car.
So, this car should have the associated regular car expenses.
The exception would be if a magnetic ride control damper goes out.
Shocks are a wear item. Oh well, that's the price for a magic carpet ride with 20" wheels.
They sell a 3rd party warranty that you can use to get service anywhere. I've never heard of the company, was not interested.
I had previously talked to a Honda dealer down the road.
They had a 2015 Acura RLX and he told me that they would dealer warranty the car for 125K miles, unlimited years for $2500 if I bought and serviced it there.
Not a bad plan if one was sure they were never going to move out of town.
I like the RLX. It won't fit in my current garage, but if I ever get a bigger one I've got that idea in my back pocket.
Many people just break everything down into monthly payments and live from paycheck to paycheck having the most they can.
This must explain why the median savings account balances in the US is $4830. You could expand that on a failed transmission on an expensive car or pickup truck today.
Inflation, automakers cutting costs on things like seats. If they have to spend more to make the car a cocoon of safety, the seat comfort is going to suffer. So will engine sizes and options, so will everything else besides the exterior these days. 90's didn't have the looks, the pistaz, the modernity, but they were comfortable gas guzzling a-b commuters. And that's the way we liked it. Think how a Jetta used to have a v6 just a decade and a half ago. That seems like yesterday. So all liberal overregulation did was create more class schisms. Thanks ***holes.
Totally agree! I'd much rather die in a 30-mph crash knowing I lived with the freedom to drive what the h3LL I wanted with nice, comfortable seats, than shamefully slink away unscathed from such a crash knowing I exist (not live) in a communist paradise where GOVERNMENT FORCES manufacturers to make "safe" products for me and my loved ones to use while we travel and thus are necessarily exposed to risks posed by other people's mistakes! [/s]
We used to manage a low income/tax credit community (two of them, actually) where the tenants got either free or reduced rates on their rent. We were making good money, but our cars were the cheapest ones in the parking lot. There were people who couldn't come up with their $25 a month share of the rent, but they drove expensive luxury cars.
Priorities, ya know, priorities.
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