Current Events > Seeing nice cars in poorer neighbourhoods always makes me depressed.

(+) Yeah! (+)

I live in a kind of poorer neighbourhood and this is the case. A typical scottish coast side town. Drugs are rampant, people on the dole rampant. Nobody can afford the dentist, nobody can put their kids through university, nobody is doing anything other than sitting inside watching tv every night.

And yet, BMW. BMW. Audi. Mercedes. Subaru Impreza fully kitted out with racing brakes, etc.

I kind of get it, too. For a lot of people, a car is the nicest thing we'll ever own. And you're in it a lot of the time, and everyone sees it, and cars are cool etc etc.

But damn, it's weird to see people with a car that vastly outstrips their actual financial situation, and it's so fucking common.

Now I know that often these cars aren't actually expensive to buy. They're just expensive to afford.

Useful way of telling where to buy your . . . supplies, though.

But yeah, I get it too. It's the one nice thing that these people can dream of owning. I don't begrudge them that. The few thou they spend on a nice motor aren't exactly going to buy them a house.

Its more clothes than cars here, but I know exactly what you mean.

Yeah, I'll never understand why people buy a fucking beemer or lexus car or something, but still live in a shack or cant buy much else, like come on man >_> Be more responsible with your money. I make 6 figures but still drive a 16yo normal car because I like not having a monthly payment on a car or paying out the nose for repairs/insuance. You gotta live below your means if you want to stay ahead of things and move up eventually.

Whats the point of living if you cant have nice things?
Come on, let them live a little.
Are you saying no one ever buys stuff out of their price range?
I bet you most of us here have bought something we shouldnt be able to afford because we really wanted it. (We made temporary sacrifices)

What I learned in my house buying experience a few years ago is that the people who lived in the nicer neighborhoods and nicer houses had more maintstream vehicles like Hondas, Toyotas, and Fords.

A lot of times the people leasing these luxury cars just make poor financial decisions. Such people may have income but they don't have wealth.

ZaruenKosai posted...

Whats the point of living if you cant have nice things?
Come on, let them live a little.
Are you saying no one ever buys stuff out of their price range?
I bet you most of us here have bought something we shouldnt be able to afford because we really wanted it. (We made temporary sacrifices)

The implication here is that someone is making a conscious decision to just enjoy a nice thing in full knowledge of the financial opportunity cost.

I'm sure that is true in a lot of cases, and for those people I don't really have a counter argument. If they know what they're getting themselves into and they make that decision anyway, fair play to them.

I know that it's not true in many more cases. A lot of people are simply really not financially literate on a basic level and make poor decisions. They don't save any money because they don't understand compound interest, they don't have emergency funds or any savings at all despite being able to "afford" a car finance plan that takes up 40% or more of their monthly income.

It's all well and good to say that "we all buy stuff that is a little out of our price range", but can you honestly defend the idea of buying something that puts you in debt on a depreciating toy that 1) promises to leave you with no breathing room in your budget for any setback no matter how small and 2) will continue to be a risk for nearly a decade? All while you have no emergency fund, no savings, no assets?

I think if you ask most people who buy these cars in these situations, they are simply thinking about whether they can afford the monthly payments.

That's my basic point. These people aren't simply poor or living with small means. They're in a literal financial emergency and they don't know it, but they're continuing to pile on hefty amounts of risk all the time anyway.

Anyone who lives on the coast of Scotland is rich in my book. Im jealous tc

To some people, if you're fucked, financially speaking, then you're fucked.

You could owe 20 grand you can't afford and drive a Toyota, or you could owe 30 grand you can't afford and drive a BMW. What's the odds?

Yes, we should all be financially responsible and invest for our future care home where we will be helped to go to the toilet, but some people just want to have nice things when they can enjoy them most, and I completely get that.

boomgetchopped3 posted...

Anyone who lives on the coast of Scotland is rich in my book. Im jealous tc

it's (usually) not as picturesque as it sounds.

Expectations
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/b/b57877b1.jpg
reality:
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/7/76dd4b1a.jpg

ai123 posted...

To some people, if you're fucked, financially speaking, then you're fucked.

You could owe 20 grand you can't afford and drive a Toyota, or you could owe 30 grand you can't afford and drive a BMW. What's the odds?

Yes, we should all be financially responsible and invest for our future care home where we will be helped to go to the toilet, but some people just want to have nice things when they can enjoy them most, and I completely get that.

That's also true.

TheSuperSilver posted...

What I learned in my house buying experience a few years ago is that the people who lived in the nicer neighborhoods and nicer houses had more maintstream vehicles like Hondas, Toyotas, and Fords.

A lot of times the people leasing these luxury cars just make poor financial decisions. Such people may have income but they don't have wealth.

Yeah, from my interactions with a lot of people, the people who are actually wealthy almost never really show it. The flashy ones are usually barely keeping their head above water

You can't purely judge a car's worth based on his badge. Sometimes the regular brand can be more expensive. Some luxury brands will offer really bare bone models for a seemingly cheap price. I think they do this to capture people who want the "prestige" of a luxury brand, but can barely afford it. Its usually almost a terrible reason to buy them though since you can usually get the tricked out non-luxury version for a similar price.

Also, in America a lot of people will drive trucks that cost way more than a typical luxury car. However since they are seen as "rugged" they don't have the snobbish stigma that luxury car brands have.

YellowSUV posted...

Also, in America a lot of people will drive trucks that cost way more than a typical luxury car. However since they are seen as "rugged" they don't have the snobbish stigma that luxury car brands have.

Luxury car brands don't really have a snobbish stigma in the UK.

You might get a few jokes about bad/selfish drivers of certain marques, but generally people just like the cars.

And it seems such a waste of time
If that's what you're all about
Good luck moving up cuz I'm
MOVING OUT

ai123 posted...

Useful way of telling where to buy your . . . supplies, though.

But yeah, I get it too. It's the one nice thing that these people can dream of owning. I don't begrudge them that. The few thou they spend on a nice motor aren't exactly going to buy them a house.

Uh... it might. Not saying in all cases, but cars are like 40-100k now.

People dropping 80 grand with 10%interest on a truck are probably better served by getting something used for 10k and saving for a down payment. I definitely wouldn't have been able to save for my down-payment if I had bought a lexus or some tricked out F150 instead.

What gets me is people who don't work, but can buy a brand new vehicle, tear that vehicle up over a period of 3-4 months, and then get another new one

The only time I do a double take is when I see something like a Tesla in an apartment complex without any charging stations, otherwise it's whatever. The stupidly large pickup trucks are usually more expensive than the random BMWs, Lexuses, Mercedes, and whatnot cars sitting outside in sketchy areas

In the US a BMW is a yuppie car. Here in New Zealand literally everyone I've ever seen behind the wheel of one looked like a sketchy drug dealer.

NeonPhoenix posted...

Yeah, I'll never understand why people buy a fucking beemer or lexus car or something, but still live in a shack or cant buy much else, like come on man >_> Be more responsible with your money. I make 6 figures but still drive a 16yo normal car because I like not having a monthly payment on a car or paying out the nose for repairs/insuance. You gotta live below your means if you want to stay ahead of things and move up eventually.

This is the way to go. I've been driving the same car since 2005 and the compound interest I've made on saving money is very nice. My next car will be nicer than my current one, but I plan to keep it for a minimum of 10 years, ideally at least 15.

Buying a new car every 5 or so years for most people is insane and a great way to lose a lot of money.

YellowSUV posted...

You can't purely judge a car's worth based on his badge. Sometimes the regular brand can be more expensive. Some luxury brands will offer really bare bone models for a seemingly cheap price. I think they do this to capture people who want the "prestige" of a luxury brand, but can barely afford it. Its usually almost a terrible reason to buy them though since you can usually get the tricked out non-luxury version for a similar price.

Also, in America a lot of people will drive trucks that cost way more than a typical luxury car. However since they are seen as "rugged" they don't have the snobbish stigma that luxury car brands have.

Also the servicing on those barebones luxury brands are still higher.

You're absolutely right. I uses to work in a Mercedes dealership and there was a certain class of customer buying the base model c200s or lower models who just desperately wanted a Mercedes. Kinda sad to me, that could have got a Honda accord or something 3x nicer at half the price.

I've known some people who intentionally live in a shittier place in order to afford a nicer car, but those people are essentially dedicated gearheads.

Little different for them, but I see what you're saying otherwise.

I don't know man part of me definitely side eyes people like that but at the same time it feels kinda arrogant like who the f*** am I to be passing judgement on them you know? At the end of the day I'm just gonna do my own thing anyway

pinky0926 posted...

Also the servicing on those barebones luxury brands are still higher.

You're absolutely right. I uses to work in a Mercedes dealership and there was a certain class of customer buying the base model c200s or lower models who just desperately wanted a Mercedes. Kinda sad to me, that could have got a Honda accord or something 3x nicer at half the price.

In the US Mercedes-Benz cars are marketed as the pinnacle of luxury and the paragon of technological innovation. In continental Europe they are such a basic-ass car that they are used as taxis. They're basically the crown vic of Europe.

pinky0926 posted...

I live in a kind of poorer neighbourhood and this is the case. A typical scottish coast side town. Drugs are rampant, people on the dole rampant. Nobody can afford the dentist, nobody can put their kids through university, nobody is doing anything other than sitting inside watching tv every night.

And yet, BMW. BMW. Audi. Mercedes. Subaru Impreza fully kitted out with racing brakes, etc.

I kind of get it, too. For a lot of people, a car is the nicest thing we'll ever own. And you're in it a lot of the time, and everyone sees it, and cars are cool etc etc.

But damn, it's weird to see people with a car that vastly outstrips their actual financial situation, and it's so fucking common.

Now I know that often these cars aren't actually expensive to buy. They're just expensive to afford.

They might be leased so they're really just making car payments forever.