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As for affordability -- unless you know a person's finances you DON'T know whether they can 'afford' the car he/she has. The person could be car poor -- eating hot dogs and spaghetti to be able to make the payments.
Some people debt bothers, others it doesn't. Some will take a chance on an expensive car they like -- even if it means they're not saving an emergency fund, others wouldn't dare dream of doing that. Some want what they want regardless of price, others just want an engine, seat and wheels to get where they're going for the cheapest cost possible.
I'm with the OP, I do wonder sometimes how people afford -- not only the CARS they have -- but some other things too. It's not my every waking thought --and I'm NOT judging -- just CURIOUS. Maybe I could even LEARN from them, because they COULD be doing something RIGHT that I'm NOT doing. You never know.
As for affordability -- unless you know a person's finances you DON'T know whether they can 'afford' the car he/she has. The person could be car poor -- eating hot dogs and spaghetti to be able to make the payments.
Some people debt bothers, others it doesn't. Some will take a chance on an expensive car they like -- even if it means they're not saving an emergency fund, others wouldn't dare dream of doing that. Some want what they want regardless of price, others just want an engine, seat and wheels to get where they're going for the cheapest cost possible.
I'm with the OP, I do wonder sometimes how people afford -- not only the CARS they have -- but some other things too. It's not my every waking thought --and I'm NOT judging -- just CURIOUS. Maybe I could even LEARN from them, because they COULD be doing something RIGHT that I'm NOT doing. You never know.
It's honestly not that hard to afford a "luxury" car. People make choices. Bringing your lunch to work every day instead of eating out will save you about 140 a month.
Not getting your 5 dollar cup of coffee every morning will save you 100 a month.
That right there is a 5 year 14k loan payment a month (240 a month).
So say you can afford a 20k loan if you stop eating out and getting cofee you can afford a 35k loan. Throw in some negotiating (7-8 off price), a trade-in (7-8k) and a downpayment (5k) you have yourself a 54-56k car.
Just using the food example and coffee example, because most people I know at my work eat out almost every day and also get coffee every day.
^^mizzo of course you're correct. It's just that from the outside it can look like people are doing it all: eating out, traveling, paying decent rent/mortgage, buying nice clothes/shoes, paying for private school, and whatever other expense they may have -- AND paying for a luxury car.
Because, from the outside, we don't know if people are indeed making the trade-offs or choices you so wonderfully explained. I think that's part of the basic reason we wonder about it...because we don't know. IF we DID know they were not eating out or buying gourmet coffee, we wouldn't have to wonder, we'd know.
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.
This. I know plenty of people who are wealthy (over $10 mil net worth) who lease $50,000 car because it's just easy to get the newer model every year than deal with trading in, selling, etc.
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't agree on that because it's simply not true. Plenty of people want luxury and are willing to pay for luxury.
Also, $50,000 cars aren't expensive to everyone. Your middleclass white collar professional making $150,000/year can afford a $50,000 car more easily than someone in Ohio with the same profession, making $70,000. While the incomes vary between location, the price of cars don't.
^^mizzo of course you're correct. It's just that from the outside it can look like people are doing it all: eating out, traveling, paying decent rent/mortgage, buying nice clothes/shoes, paying for private school, and whatever other expense they may have -- AND paying for a luxury car.
Because, from the outside, we don't know if people are indeed making the trade-offs or choices you so wonderfully explained. I think that's part of the basic reason we wonder about it...because we don't know. IF we DID know they were not eating out or buying gourmet coffee, we wouldn't have to wonder, we'd know.
^^mizzo of course you're correct. It's just that from the outside it can look like people are doing it all: eating out, traveling, paying decent rent/mortgage, buying nice clothes/shoes, paying for private school, and whatever other expense they may have -- AND paying for a luxury car.
Because, from the outside, we don't know if people are indeed making the trade-offs or choices you so wonderfully explained. I think that's part of the basic reason we wonder about it...because we don't know. IF we DID know they were not eating out or buying gourmet coffee, we wouldn't have to wonder, we'd know.
We can agree that majority of luxury car buyers buy it for status and to show off, yet no one here has admitted that.
No, we can't. We can agree that some do, but not a majority and certainly not all. Why is it so hard for you to believe that some of us buy luxury cars because we like to drive and/or we like to get from point A to point B in comfort and style. Do you also believe that people who fly first class are doing it to impress the passengers who walk by them as they head to the cattle car that is coach/economy?
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