Spending a lot on cars

It's like high fashion or jewellery or posh watches or whatever else - some people just like them, some don't, and for some it's a status symbol.

You should perhaps bear in mind that you might know what people's jobs are but you don't ever really know their financial situation - sources of income outside their jobs, inheritance, their debts, their expenses, their good or bad habits. Some of the people you think surely can't afford their cars probably bought them for cash after an inheritance or whatever. Even if you think people have told you about their finances, people don't always tell the truth.

Absolutely love it.

I'm about to take my flat-6 Porsche out to grab coffee in a few minutes. The only thing I love more than driving it (rarely) is cleaning it.

Like you and the other Porsche drivers here, it's our "thing". I make no apologies for having a "thing". Others travel a lot, wear designer clothes, are foodies, whatever.

I also worked my arse off for it (and my other car, which also wasn't cheap) and will continue to enjoy it, no matter what others think.

Thanks for sharing x

It’s incredibly sad. Such is human nature I suppose.
There’s a saying ‘ The poor plan for the weekend , the rich plan for the next generation.’

But this has been the case for generations, it's not a new phenomenon.

I doubt you’re the intended audience the op was referring to. It was simply an observation that those with the least have a tendency to spend the most trying to look more affluent than they actually are.

😁 since you asked, its just under 4000 sq ft and an acre of ground. So yes we're doing fine. And I love my merc and won't be changing it for a 'battered old estate', regardless of the views of randoms on the Internet.

I know their living situation and income bracket (jobs)

Good grief! Have you always been so nosey about others? Clearly your detective work isn’t as good as you think as you don’t know their living situation and how they afford cars. But who cares? What does it matter to you? Just leave others to live their lives the way they want to and find a better use for your time than obsessing over how much money other people have/spend. None of your business. You sound very jealous.

Most people don't own the flashy cars. They are leased or PCP deals which are presumably a much lower monthly payment than buying the car outright over 3 or 4 years.

I don't get the "depreciating asset" issue. You also get the use of the car while you own it which offsets the depreciation. Surely that's better than paying a monthly lease fee for a car you won't ever own? I'm happy to buy a used car though.

And 5 bedrooms doesn’t mean very much tbh. It’s square footage we need to know. 2000sq ft - meh! 5000 or over - more impressive.
I hope you pat yourself on the back daily.

Own outright ? Congratulations!

We have a merc on pcp but we own our 5 bed detached property, do we still fall into the 'pretty sad' bracket ? 😂

Everyone is different and have different motivations for spending their money.

We have just the one car and its ten years old. Nothing owed on it and gets us from A to B. However we have money in savings, I'm trying to build my pension and when things break we have the money sat there to fix it. If DH loses his job (he earns 6x what I do) then there's enough to pay the mortgage for six months whilst we decide what to do. We also save to do renovations on our house so have no outstanding finance except the mortgage. For us we feel in a decent financial position in our late 30's/early 40's which suits us better than a car on PCP for example.

What about people who spend £50k on holidays, kitchens, art, jewellery, clothes....? Do they attract your ire or is it just cars?

I really don't understand why people are so judgmental about cars 😂.

Also - have to point out that these days 50k won't buy you a luxury car.

Most cars depreciate in value, ironically the more expensive cars can retain their value better. But I don’t know why people talk about cars as assets like houses etc, people spend £5,000 on a holiday and won’t make money from it, but it’s the enjoyment you take from it, why is a car different to that? I don’t expect my car to appreciate anymore than I do my clothes, holidays, etc. I invest in other ways for that purpose.

It's a weirdly British thing, all this judgement mixed with a good dollop of jealousy about what cars people choose to spend their money on. DH has a very pricey Merc AMG and it get lots of compliments from people of all ages here (France) and why not, it's a very nice car. In England it'd likely get keyed.

Setting aside the way in which the car itself impacts upon the rest of us (more of an issue with a Range Rover than a Porsche), it's the moaning about the cost of everything I can't stand. Driving a gas-guzzler and whinging about the cost of fuel, complaining about the cost of insuring a Range Rover (yeah, loads get nicked), and even complaining about how difficult it is to get on the housing ladder while shelling out considerable sums every month on lease/PCP payments.

I've got colleagues on £20k more than me moaning about costs. I'm more financially secure than a lot of them because I'm more sensible.

I don’t think you sound judgey at all. I’ve often thought the same myself, for me it’s the depreciation in value that I couldn’t handle unless I was really wealthy. Some people really enjoy cars so I understand they get pleasure from them and a hobby costs money etc. Also, we know some people don’t have masses of money but when they’re driving around no one else knows they don’t so maybe it makes them feel good, like having a designer handbag? I’m with you, I thinks it’s a bit mad to lose money that quickly unless you have plenty.

I don’t think it’s implied at all because all she does is make judgment on people spending a “small fortune”
and “saddling themselves with debt the size of a small for mortgage” for the purposes of something she doesn’t choose to value. My car is on finance, as is a lot of people’s, but I’m not financially irresponsible. I have a fantastic pension, property, savings, I have good insurance and made the risk based decision to take the debt on in consideration of our context. I think a lot of people are like this. Some just choose to believe people who finance cars are financially irresponsible and shallow, it’s an ignorant view and not the case for everyone.

That reminds me of this classic sketch:

£250 for gas and electric, large 4 bedroom modern house (4 adults live there, 2 are retired, 2 WFH) and an electric car, not too bad.

Ok she didn’t mention it but I thought it was implied when she mentioned their income bracket/ jobs. TBH I don’t care what people do with their money. If they don’t buy new cars then I can’t buy them second hand. Also if they don’t spend their disposable income on cars etc the economy suffers ? I guess I would prefer to see people becoming more financially secure as I know what it’s like to worry about money constantly.

No she doesn’t, read her post again, she mentions nothing about scraping by.

But you can afford it..
The op refers to those who buy the new cars while scraping by. You’re not who they’re talking about.