To wonder how people can afford a 50K car?

[tryingtobemarrypoppins2]

Being stuck for 7 hours on the motorway I got rather bored and started playing the which car is the most expensive game (sad I know!). But there were LOADS over 50k on the road.

How does anyone afford one!?? Luxury yes, do I want one? YES!! But how on earth does anyone afford one??

I don't get it, and am always deeply suspicious of anyone who buys a new, expensive car outright, throwing good money down the drain with the way they depreciate. I appreciate quality and have been through the expensive car phase, but now I will settle for understated! We have a very nice 5 yr old Audi A6 estate, which is hugely practical. Massive boot for dogs and forthcoming baby equipment, very economical, safe, comfy etc, fantastic drive and very high quality. BUT: nowhere near £50K...try about £5k! You certainly don't need to spend £50K to have a nice car, I can think of far more exciting things to spend the cash on!

But yes, most people will have them on HP, which I guess is the most sensible way to own one really.

VengefulKitty

Just been looking at a lease site.

At first glance it seems like madness - took Audi A5 as an example - roughly £35k new.

You can lease one for 4 years for £330 per month + £1k deposit. So over 4 years you are paying £17k. At the end of the 4 years you hand it back and have nowt to show for it. At first I thought it was madness.

On the other hand, assuming you went to see Mr Audi, bought your A5 with cold hard reddies, £35k, in 4 years time the chances are your Audi would have depreciated by at least £17k, so you've lost the money that you would have lost leasing....

Hmmm.... tricky one.

I wonder how anyone affords a new car full stop. A woman I work with, who earns slightly less than me, does that thing where you pay something like £200 a month and get a new car every 3 years. No way could I magic up £200 a month!

I work in one of the most deprived areas in Scotland. When someone drives past in a £50K car, you tend to think local drug baron, gosh, I wonder how they managed to afford that

ummmmm geordieminx I see what your saying and I guess after 4 years they just get another new one so then don't get faults/worn out bits etc

to a lot of people the car is far more important than where they live.

I know people that live in hovels but drive £30k cars - because they'd rather have a flash set of wheels than a nice home.

I often wonder this too.
I live in Liverpool, which is awash with gangster-y types and drugs, and you see a lot of young blonde chav looking girls driving huge 50k 4x4s and it makes me mad because they are clearly bought/leased with ill-gotten gains. I always think why can't the police just stop them and say "What is your job? Oh, you work in a sunbed salon, right so, how do you pay for this car"? I know it doesn't work like that, but I wish things could be that simple sometimes.
I have a modest nearly new Honda saloon, I'm paying for it over 2 years to avoid paying too much interest and it crippling me at the mo, and I consider my job to be fairly well-paid. How do folk do it??!

Most people I know lease their cars (me included) seems to me much more cost effective than buying outright when you consider the depreciation and the hassle of selling.

I used to lease a top of the range XC90 (probably not quite £50k worth of car) for £480 pcm and a colleague leased a Aston Martin DB7 (probably way more than £50k woth of car) for £800.

Expensive cars tend to have lower depreciation so the lease hire companies can offer them at a ridiculously low monthly rate.

I remember looking at various cars when I ordered my last company car about 5 years ago, my allowance was £450 a month lease hire I think and cars like audis were way cheaper per month than cheaper brands because they held their value. Even though the price may be higher the lease rental was way lower. It was amazing what you can get for the money. I undertsnad from a friend that there are bigger bargains to be had now than before on lease hire, but I bought my last car privately so never investigated it as I didn't want lease hire.

Not everyone that has a nice car is nouveau/flashy or to the detriment of having a nice home (defends father). Some people have to drive a lot for work and would rather do it in a very nice car.

Stressheaderic - I used to live in Liverpool and whenever my sister would give me a lift there I'd always warn her to drive very nicely around any 4x4's with blacked out windows.

My dad has several cars that make 50K look cheap (in fact, his cheapo one was 50k). He wanted a Ferrari from toddlerhood, and finally acquired one at the age of 55. I think they are all leased, as he has a big overdraft. Bless him. I am hoping one of his cast-offs comes my way one day...

Usually company cars or leased.

I never had a 50K car, but always had one around the 35-40K mark which I would never spend on a car I bought myself.

Maybe Marsha , however anyone who has a black range rover and then doesn't even have a driveway to park it on, is stupidly nouveau.

If you have a house smaller than your car requires, you have serious ego issues.

I have a v.generous FIL who bought me a brand new HUGE american Dodge last September. Ok, so only 30k ish, but not bad at the grand age of 23. Can I join the club please
No lease for me!

I couldn't do it, if I won the lottery I'd go for a speced up Galaxy, £30k max and then I'd feel sick.

the only person i know who owns such a vehicle is in the army, and therefore has both a good salary, and small living expenses...though i think it makes him look like a nob. A bit juvenile - that kind of conscious commitment of a large sum of money to mere swagger. so many really wealthy people drive quite old/small cars, not feeling the need to do that sort of thing.

the company cars at work are mostly in the 20-30k bracket....

though i think £200 pcm is a fair price to pay to buy a new car outright, as if you need a reliable car for a distance commute, even a 'cheap' new car will cost you that much over, say 4years....it just goes under the 'travel' part of your work expense along with fuel...if you had an older car, you could end up spending that much on repairs in a year anyway....

the car i lust over is the 2005 Previa...though i almost prefer the older shape....that jsut for geting kids into - i much prefer driving something small, unexciting and easy to park...

I suppose the fact is that some people do just earn a hell of a lot of money.

My friend who had the DB7 probably earns in the region of 3/4 a million per year so her £800 for a car is actually a far smaller proportion of her take home pay than someone who is repaying £100 pcm for an older, more simple car when they earn £20k pa.

Shit the bed. What do they do to earn 3/4 million a year??

at 'shit the bed'.

"and they depreciate so quickly"

Actually sometimes they don't - sometimes the manufacturers of premium cars restict their supply and create a waiting list deliberately...where a waiting list exists there is always some uber rich footballer who will pay over the odds to obtain that car, thus you might wait 12 months for your super car and the be able to trade it on for higher than what you paid.

"A bit juvenile - that kind of conscious commitment of a large sum of money to mere swagger"

Actually, that's bullshit. Dh drives an R8 and he is about the least ostentatious person on the planet. It so isn't about swagger. He just likes super cars - it's the small boy in him. He has nothing to prove and is completely down to earth.

I, on the other hand, am an inveterate snob. So much so that I hate to be seen in his R8 and usually slump low in the seat and avoid making eye contact when exiting the vehicle.

"Some people have to drive a lot for work and would rather do it in a very nice car"

V. true Marsha - whats the point of doing sack cloth and ashes and driving 40,000 miles per year in a punto!