Why do people on limited incomes choose upmarket cars?

[SirGawain]

Not really an AIBU, nor a criticism of peoples lifestyle choices, but I'm genuinely curious.
I live in an estate of mostly starter type homes built about thirty years ago. Many of the houses have been aquired peicemeal by different housing associations. The neigbours are generally very nice and most seem to be employed in decent, if not well paid, jobs.
As they are living in housing association properties I assume that they are not particulary affluent. What puzzles me is that the car of choice for many is a BMW or an Audi. Why would people spend there money on an expensive car which depreciates rather than investing it in a homes which will rise in value?

The person who made the point about financial illiteracy makes a valid one, but it does not just extend to cars.

I'm more concerned about the impact on the environment, traffic congestion and the impact on health of never walking anywhere.

If anyone knows where I can get a house for the price of a BMW, let me know thanks xx

Im a home owner but I personally could be described as a lower wage earner my reasoning is i can easily afford my car payment so i would rather an 18 plate higher end car that is realiable looks nice and is cost efficient than driving round in a banger which is a money pit i would struggle with random £600 of the blue car repair bills

It's a status symbol. Perhaps they feel it brings them more respect/admiration as others think they are on a high income. Perhaps they grew up in poverty and always coveted a nice car.

BMWs and Audis are luxuary cars, but old ones are fairly cheap to buy (but expensive to run and fix).

People have different priorities.

If anyone knows where I can get a house for the price of a BMW, let me know thanks
Well obviously you can't in most places so you're being deliberately obtuse.

I tell you what though, it irritated me having friends talk about 'how lucky' DH and I were to buy a house when they had flash cars and regular expensive holidays. We went without things and saved. We didn't say ' oh but houses are so expensive, poor us, oh well we'll have an expensive car to cheer us up about houses being expensive.

If someone wishes to have a flash car then fine. But there's no point complaining about how they can't afford to buy a house.

Well as a result of this thread I've done some sums, looked at some cars on the internet, I've got the money in the bank, and am going to buy in my own time a two or three year old Honda HRV auto outright and will keep it for 6 or 7 years as I have always done rather than pay a premium and if I had less money I'd buy an older car and possibly a smaller one. My parents managed perfectly well with smaller family cars rather 4 wheel cross overs. £300pcm is £10,800. 2 x 10,800 is £21,600. I'd rather spend £18k over 7 years. At the end of 7 years I'll have £3,600 and a car worth about £3k. It's a no brainer.

Thank you op.

Alans
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/find.html?locationIdentifier=REGION%5E73121&sortType=1&includeSSTC=true

Actually not even a BMW - a decent Ford Fiesta!

Half of all UK adults have an income below £20,000

Half of all UK households have an income below £26,000

Half of all Londoners have an income below £25,000

Average House price in London is around £500,000

People live where they can and have what luxuries they can afford.

You can buy loads of houses for less than a BMW! Within a mile or so of where I live now you can also get a house cheaper than a BMW. Not all Mumsnetters live in the SE.

I meant to say in my hometown you can buy loads of houses for less than a BMW.

Here. Very nice too.

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-75005213.html

Here too.

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-72481304.html

@larlarland
fascinating
what are the work opportunities and schools round there?
Are those houses read to move into?
Just that the Peterlee ones are all not habitable

Schools are pretty good. Brilliant sixth form college within the borough. Jobs market is tough but certainly not impossible. It’s very commutable to both Liverpool and Manchester, as well as other large towns in the surrounding area. Still, it wouldn’t be the kind of place most Mumsnetters would want to live in.

Also remember that these people might not be splashing out on these cars, some will be paid for by work and some can even get a BMW free or at a reduced price if they are a member of the International Wankers' Association.

One of the Leigh houses is shared ownership, but as Leigh is half an hour's drive or under an hour by public transport from the centre of Manchester, I would have thought the accessible employment opportunities were pretty good.

If you're not tied to London/SE property prices, a couple with pretty much any jobs can afford a mortgage on a 2 bedroom property in many areas, providing you can manage to save around £10k as a deposit.

And once you've secured your £400 pm mortgage, that £2-3k pm household income has plenty of scope for a couple of hundred quid a month car payments.

Yes it is shared ownership but do people who buy their vehicles on finance ever really own them outright? There are loads of other house in the area which are less than £50,000.

Because PCP has made it affordable to do so. If you rent your home anyway, renting a car doesn't really make any difference.

It obviously makes people feel happier to have a nicer car.

We paid circa £20k cash for a far east brand car, which I think is really nice to drive, has lots of great features.

I'm actually quite shocked that the equivalent car if it's a Volvo or Audi literally costs 2.5-3 times more. OK, I get that some of the features are better but to me it is a staggering waste of money.

I'd only ever pay for a nicer car marque if I had paid my mortgage off, and had the money for literally everything else I wanted. But people are different.

To the outside world I probably look like I'm spending my limited income on a brand new (though not top brand) car, when in reality I lease through Motability and have limited choice on the car I lease due to mobility needs.

Small affordable cars aren't useful to most families.

Better quality/ newer cars cost less in the long run.

People have pride in the things they own. Even poor people.

Car enthusiast or a status symbol.

Seen just this afternoon - matching pair of very new-looking Beemers , complete with expensive vanity plates (think matching single digits and individual initials), occupying not only all of the front garden of an ex-council semi-detached house but a fair bit of the pavement as well.

Ah well Quinions near where I live a former LA terrace on a v posh road has just sold for ......drumroll £975,000. Would two beemers be so out of place?

Exactly Roses.... my sister just sold her 2 bed ex council house for £450k...

(They bought it for £250K a decade or more ago)

Our brand new car is a motability one. It is a shame that the trade off is DH's health - we would have happily stuck with our old car if it had meant he was well enough to keep working. We simply couldn't afford to keep insuring, taxing, paying off the finance and running it after he had to give up work, so for £57 of his PIP a week it worked out cheaper to lease a motability car than keep the old one going. And you can only get brand new motability cars.

We don't have a luxury brand car, but only because we preferred the options and the look of the one we chose. It is still a pricey car, just not a BMW - we weren't keen on them.