Spending a lot on cars

My previous Toyota didn’t have electric windows in the back. My son’s friend used to comment on it quite frequently in a ‘ this is a crap car ‘ way - my son knew what he was insinuating.
Anyway he said something one to many times and my son replied, Yes my parents prefer to spend money on things which make them money not cost them money. Proud parent moment.
Same parent in their expensive Audi was complaining about affording food one month into Covid. I know which one I’d rather be.

More people should plan for the future. The government are quite happy for poor people to spend everything they have and then some. They need them to keep the economy going while they hoard their millions. When people wise up to this it gives them financial freedom. Much more valuable than any expensive car on their driveway.

Status, impulse buying, because finance looks attractive & salespeople are good at selling. Sometimes it's just because they want a nice car. It's all about priorities & comfort with debt.

I'm currently after a car upgrade from my 17 year old car. I looked at two cars yesterday. One perfect for what I need, a reasonable price, but older & well, dull. Another flash, two years old & with all the bells & whistles, but would wipe all our savings. I admit I was tempted. My practical side always wins out, as my need for financial stability & hate of debt is very strong. Whereas, a mum acquaintance has just bought a very expensive car & admitted they now have two on finance & owe a bomb. She's happy, loves the car. Almost recoiled when I mentioned how old my car is! We're just different.

This is how I feel about it. I don’t care that the value depreciates, my car is not an investment, I invest my money in my house, pension and savings. I spend the rest on things I enjoy; holidays, good food, and a car I enjoy driving. I pay for my car what I am happy to pay monthly, I do not care what I have to show at the end of the term. Like you I like the predictability of the monthly payments on a newer car, I know I pay for that predictability. I can afford it and am comfortable with that.

Of course, I’m not suggesting that it doesn’t. I was just stating we don’t value it as an asset as we would our house for example. The main benefit for us is the predictable payments, and the stress/risk reduction.

Years ago we bought a second hand vehicle for about £12k. In the first year it cost us £5k in a massive repair issue that we couldn’t claim back from the retailer as it was sold as seen despite being from a dealer. It was also off the road for 2 months in that time. We were also paying interest on the loan we took out to buy it, as we didn’t have the £12k outright. By the time we came to sell it, I worked out it would have only cost us marginally more to have had a new leased car over that time, but without all the stress and inconvenience it had given us. That was the deciding factor for us!

Obviously not everyone gets so unlucky and some used cars run forever, but it’s personal choice, and not everyone is doing it purely for vanity reasons, or to keep up with the Jones’s.

That said, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy the ‘new’ factor. Not because it looks fancy, just because it’s nice to sit in a car that’s perfect and clean. Bonus!

Rubbish. Do you actually know any multi millionaires??

You are my hero! From another Porsche obsessed track junkie

My work offer a salary sacrifice to lease a brand new car. As a higher tax rate payer it saves me a lot , plus everything is covered. Service, maintenance, tires, mot , and insurance so if anything goes wrong i know im covered.

Cars are things that just do not interest me. I’ll never buy an expensive car.

But I’m sure people who do might look at things I buy and think “I’d never spend my money on that”

Rich people like this are the worst. They inherited everything but feel they have the right to look down their noses at those who actually have to work for a living.

It’s a status symbol. Pretending to have more money than you do must make you feel better about yourself??
And to previous posters justifying their cars - it doesn’t sound like the op means people who can actually afford the cars. It’s those who struggle to pay for the car while complaining about being broke.
I’m sure there is lots of research on the reasons why people do it? When you are comfortable in yourself and have the money to buy the car outright often you don’t feel the need to buy the car because you don’t have anything to prove. I’d rather have ££££ in the bank and drive my 7 year old car than drive a new car with £ in the bank. I’m more interested in building generational wealth than looking rich.

No, I don’t get it either. I do have a Volvo, which I love. But it’s secondhand and I paid £6k for it. I’d never buy a new one.

I do have a school mum friend. She’s a single parent, no partner, so no other household income. I’m not really sure what she does. She has a “shop” somewhere that she goes to check on maybe once a month. Doesn’t otherwise appear to work. Lives in a small ordinary house. She drives a £100k custom car. I’d never even seen one in person before, so had to look it up.

If I had £100k to drop on a car, I’d be buying a nicer house or putting my dc in private school or investing in something. It would be different if I was otherwise flush, but if I appeared to be not very financially secure in the rest of my life, I’d not be spending £100k on a car.

I have an expensive car because I drive a lot and like cars. There does seem to be this weird thing on here where cars are because someone wants to look wealthy but the truth for most of us who drive flashy cars is the more mundane - we just like cars. I don’t care if someone thinks that I’m wealthy or not. I don’t care that MNetters are judging me. I just like my gorgeous silver Audi A6 😍

Not exclusively no, plenty of the large ones are old diesel guzzling SUVs, and there are thousands of luxury hatchbacks and sports cars on the roads.

I dont get spending on a lot on cars but I don't notice what people drive i also dont get the point of watching certain TV shows or having certain hobbies but I dont need to get if it works for them

We don’t smoke rarely drink, holiday in the U.K. when we do have a holiday and we just like a nice car, I’m a community nurse and so my car is basically my office and spend 90% of my time in it so yes I like a nice new car with a warranty and nothing to worry about for 3 years. We’ve just got a brand new car it’s a mild hybrid and already we’re saving some money on fuel

Just spending a grand a month in the leccy.

Cos the expensive ones are often the larger ones

DH & I love driving , we like cars that are enjoyable to drive. Personally, I like a bit of modern tech in mine- cameras, sat nav, apple play, etc.

My only rule, apart from affordability, is that I have to be able to park it ( and drive it safely of course) And that’s pretty much the judgement I make on others.

Have as big or small, new or old, £££ or £ , as you like, but drive it safely, and park it neatly.

How does someone having an expensive car affect others? Sure if you want to talk environment, size of car etc, but this thread is sneering at people spending money on cars, not the impact of the car itself.

When your choices affect others, people will judge

New cars seem to come with a much bigger risk of computer faults and electrical faults than they used to.
Garages are over the moon when we turn up with our ancient cars where the only things that can go wrong are mechanical.
I can see why people effectively pay a subscription for a new, pricier car that they can hand back if there's a problem.

Totally get you.

It’s an extension of their “personality” for some.

(think I’ll take the Ferrari for a spin today).

DH and I aren’t bothered about cars - we both have old second hand cars, bought outright and get run into the ground. We spend our money on private school fees as that’s important to us. Some people value plenty of decent holidays, or a big house, or ploughing as much as possible into their pension. Others get a lot of pleasure from their cars - it doesn’t really matter does it?