to ask how you afford your posh car?

[SteveHarringtonsChestHair]

My DS (22) is becoming increasingly frustrated by the disparity between the life he aspires to and the one he thinks is possible!

As a car enthusiast on a good wage, he is constantly surprised by the number of brand new premium brand cars (BMW, Mercedes, Volvo etc) that he sees on the roads, which he feels he has no hope of ever affording.

He’s asked my to ask you all, if you drive a premium brand car, paying presumably £400-500 a month to buy or lease, what type of job do you and (if it’s not too rude to ask, what sort of salary are you on?) And if your spouse also drives a similar car, what do they do/earn?!

I know there are lots of factors here including whether you’re paying a bit mortgage, is it a company car etc? But just a snapshot of who is driving these expensive new cars might help him put it all in perspective. TIA

btw I earn NMW and drive a 10 year old car so I’m no help here!

My first DH owned several new car dealerships so I could literally drive anything on the lot.

Before he passed away, we even owned a race car.

I now run a large tech company and have a luxury car but also have a little Ford Fiesta hatchback.

Here, there is something called heavy trash day where people put their unwanted items out on the verge.

It wouldnt be unusual to see me driving around in the luxury car picking through others cast offs.

I'm a bit eccentric like that.

The prevalence of these cars on the road, driven by people who can’t afford them, have dampened their appeal.

They are the automotive equivalent of Burberry in the 90s.

I've always had respectable cars, but I've never bought a car on credit in my life. Saved for my first (a one year old mini metro) and saved for the next one rather than paying the (non existent) credit off.

Now, I buy new cars and keep them until they start letting me down. The last one I bought was £40k, paid for outright (less value of the outgoing car).

I earn £45k and do firmly believe that a life long aversion to credit is what's brought me to a position where I have decent lifestyle on a relatively modest income.

I'm considering a company car. Currently have 2 on lease between us.

Our DC at 27 and 24 are very happy with a 9 year old golf and a 4 year old Hyundai i10 respectively.

I have a workhorse that will be kept until 2030. My cars are bought nearly new and worked to death until it makes no.sense to spend any more on them.

DH has a Maserati Gran Turismo, bought when about 12 months old in 2014 ish. Why? Because he wanted it, was at the top of his game professionally and could afford it. He can also afford the eye-watering running costs.

When I look around our tiny gated road there are some lovely cars. The real crackers are at least four/five years old and not at all in line with the ubiquitous, nearly new mercs, audi's, BMWs that pepper the roads here. Funnily enough they all.seem to be driven by youngish drivers. The crackers one sees here tend to be driven by middle aged men.

I am perplexed at why a 22 year old should be over invested in having a "posh" car. A true petrol head would be lusting after a Ferrari or a true classic like an Aston Martin , eveno an Alpha Romeo Spider.

Not a posh posh car (I have an electric Kia), but certainly not cheap to buy from a dealer! I got it through a work salary sacrifice scheme. For me it gives the peace of mind that everything (insurance, servicing, repairs, courtesy car, tyres, MOT, windscreen, everything!) is covered. All I have to do is charge the battery on it. It's due for a change next year and I will probably get something similar.

Coincidentally, I’ve just seen this thread a few hours after putting a deposit on a £36,300 Volvo. I’ll be paying a very large deposit, with the balance on 0% interest over 3 years (I have an aversian to interest and always avoid paying it). I couldn’t bring myself to give serious consideration to a PCP contract. I briefly considered a lease, but didn’t want the hassle of keeping to a low maximum mileage (despite only doing about 6000 miles per year on average) and being neurotic about every superficial mark. In addition to the deposit from my savings, I have a monthly cost of £397 per month.

Both DH and I are retired and have an income of about £45,000 between us. I still have a mortgage for another 12 years (due to a divorce 15 years ago) - currently just over £500 per month. I’m a bit alarmed about the cost of this vehicle since I always swore I’d never pay that sort of money for a car. After decades of having a great deal on an NHS lease car, due to my community work, I was stunned when I retired in 2014 to discoverer what it would cost me to buy a car. I bought a Renault for £16000. It’s 9.5-years old now, still a great car, but with age, I’ve become stupidly nervous on motorways and in driving in the dark, so feel the need to drive the nearest thing I can find to a pretty tank! I also now have circulation problems and really feel the cold. Consequently, the pretty tank needs to have a heated steering wheel and seats 😮 Anyway, I have scared myself with this purchase because it’s out of character, but I’m not paying any interest and I’m looking forward to having it.

Company car is a good way to go, I have lots of friends who got to choose their flash company car they use 24/7. Sales seems to be a good avenue for that.

This. DP currently paying £36 a month on a Tesla through work and that includes everything. Can’t complain

Seems like he wants too much too young.
if a young person is driving a flash car it is either… parents bought it, it’s parents’ car, live at home no rent, bought it second hand and it is old, they are in a job that pays lots of commission and they are good at it, massive loan. Possibly a combination of the above.
the rest will be older people with company cars, high earners, those with a huge loan.
I didn’t get my first “fancy” car (MX5 Roadster) until I was 30, on s salary sacrifice scheme…then a massive X5 bought from savings

I work hard and save hard for my car.

I would hate to be paying hundreds a month, every month for something I will never own. Suppose it is the equivalent of house rental.

Ours isn’t massively posh but it costs enough! It’s a lease car and I absolutely love it.

I am nearly 50 though, we have paid off our mortgage and we earn a good wage between us and have only ever run one car. Until 6 years ago we had much older second's hand cars who which we would drive until they wore out.

Having a brand new car is a real treat to me.

I had a base model reasonably flashy car from one of manufactures listed, bought a few years old, but still nice. There is/was an internet forum for the car, and people would post pics of their cars. For the top spec, most expensive models I would look at the pic of the car on their drive and think, "How do you afford a flash car like that, if you live in such a cheap house.." and then it eventually dawned on me, .... priorities...

should add.. when I was same age as DS(22) my car cost £500, total, not per month. Expectations are as important as priorities