If someone makes $250,000+ a year, it's not unreasonable.
"My 2005 Ford Focus sedan was $3,000 and should last me about 3 years before I need to make a decision about major repairs, so that's less than $100 a month in ammortized costs."
That's completely unrealistic. You have some sort of competitive advantage (REALLY know someone trustworthy), or you are delusional. $3000 cars are generally very high mileage, unreliable, in poor condition, etc. Timing belts, suspension components, drive belts, starters, ac compressors, minor electronics, etc tend to start going on these cars.
"Are there really hundreds of thousands of people who are making $5,000+ a month necessary to justify the purchase of such an expensive vehicle? I'm not far from that number and most of my money still goes to food and rent."
I believe a car should be 3 months income at most. So no, I can't justify anything past a $10,000 car.
What I can say for sure is that unless you are a decent mechanic with tools or have GOOD friends / relatives that are, you shouldn't walk around espousing 3k cars. They just cost way too much in time.
My cars generally cost about 300-500 quid. If it breaks I buy another one. I can buy 5 or more of them for your quoted 3K.
Are they as safe as a Model S? No. Are they substantially more dangerous than other things I do in my life? Probably not.
Once things start to break you scrap it and get another one. Done.
I bought a Civic for 325 GBP, changed the tyres for ~150, and drove it around half of Europe, putting 10K miles on it before selling it because I moved in to a city for a while. I basically just treat cars as a 'subscription cost' model rather than any form of capital.
In the US you have the issue that a car might be a hard requirement to get to work. In that case I'd probably just buy two and drive them on alternate days so there's always a backup. You guys seem to have enough land for this to be viable. Still cheap as chips.
Snow & road salt is not nice to cars.
The secret is to to preemptive rust measures. Just paint it like you would on a boat and change rusty parts on the underbelly before the rust spreads to the car body.
Preemptive measures are cheap and not that much work. When it's too late though ... I wonder how much greater the average car life span would be if the drivers just took a oil dispenser every third month and oiled the parts.
@19:30 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INNMrAGl0Bg
@4:15 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nn-cqoVYQR0
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZJS6Md1UOg2Wsc48Hr7x...
Here, generally restricted parking exists within 10-15 minutes walk of a train station (to stop people blocking up residential streets when they commute in to town).
So if there's restricted parking, you can get by with one car (or no cars), for the most part.
It's confusing me that you refer to 'parking spaces', that's what I mean by restricted parking - generally anywhere outside of public transport range in the UK is free-for-all - you park at the side of the road. There are no 'spaces', aside from the physical restriction of the length of the road.
We do have problems with inner city parking reducing roads to single lane in London. But in more rural areas, you can just leave your car anywhere. The concern is thef, vandalism, collision, not enforcement action.
Which is nullified for the most part with a crappy old car. :P
Otherwise I had several cars when I was younger, all used, and all of them costing below $6000, without having to spend a fortune on maintenance.
Depends on the other things you do in your life, but statistically, I would say: probably. Rock climbing, assuming you use a proper harness and rope, is significantly less dangerous.
> In the US you have the issue that a car might be a hard requirement to get to work. In that case I'd probably just buy two and drive them on alternate days so there's always a backup.
As long as you're not paying almost double insurance, this sounds like a good option. You could even rent the other car out on the C2C rental exchange.
Though yes - insuring 2 cars could be costly - some places offer a multi car discount, some with a device that only charges you when you drive.
That said, in the UK it's hard for me to think of a circumstance in which two cars would be a hard requirement for someone who can't 'afford' a decent car.
Here, you probably live in or close to a city. You might not want to cycle in or get a taxi/bus to work every day, but if your car fails you could probably do that whilst getting another one.
So the second car is only necessary if you live in the country, which is a minority, it's nowhere near as common as the sort of "live 30 miles outside of work with no train station" stuff that happens in the US.
If my car breaks it doesn't really even matter. I use it because it's easier to do big supermarket runs and saves a bit of time here and there; the cost equation works out roughly equivalent to using public transport.
I'm in the US and that's not my experience. My insurance is fairly cheap, but it did indeed nearly double when I got a second vehicle despite there not being any additional people to drive it.
So if I purchase a car for $3000, I expect to own it for 5 years with minimal problems. There is room for a bad alternator or a starter. But not too many of those over that 5 years. Of course, if I can sell it for $1500 after the 5 years, that's another $1500 I can sink into maintenance and still justify that it cost me < $1000/year.
If I spend $10K, I have to think the car will be reliable for 15 years with ~$5K of repairs along the way.
In the past five years or so I have thought I might need to raise that $1000/year figure to reflect modern practicality. But, surprisingly, I haven't really needed to. Cars are becoming amazingly more durable, and prices in the used car market aren't sky-rocketing the same as in the new car market.
Still, it is time to make the transition to electric. The used electric market is still very immature. I don't want a used Prius. I'm ignorant of how to value used batteries, so I'm not sure what the maintenance costs will be on an 8-year-old Honda hybrid with original batteries. A 10-year-old Tesla is still way beyond $1000/year. To step into this brave new world will probably require me to suspend my $1000 rule until the water settles a bit.
Or I can pick up one more ICE car and stretch it out for 10 more years while things sort... Or compromise and just get a series of 3-4 year clunkers until I'm ready to dive into electric.
Or just bite the bullet and take the plunge now... Or...
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/dec/01/electric...
Most cheap used cars are pretty junky. That is fine if you want a beater to drive to work and back or if you have mechanic know-how. It's a lot sketchier if you want a car to drive your kids around in or if you want to drive on longer trips where you need reliability.
I'd never waste my money on a new car. My current car is 10 years old and it feels so uncomfortable new. I felt like I was spoiling myself when I bought it.
I work further from home, with a higher paying job, and get home typically around 6:30 pm. Weekends are spent cramming in other household maintenance, recreational activities for the family, etc. So if having that new car (and spending $80 at the dealer every 3 - 4 months for basic maintenance) means having more free time to spend with my family, I feel it is a really good tradeoff.
And for tools, you don't need much more than the very basics for most jobs that I would want to deal with.
Now if your car of choice is a 69 chevelle or a Fiero then it's going to be a different story.
I have a 30 year old car, but it doesn't have an airbag.
The good news about the Takata recall is that 50 million airbags out there either have already been replaced (including mine) or are able to be replaced under the recall.
The Takata recalls indicate that what specific claims are made about airbag performance are not always accurate, and environmental circumstances and time factor into that.
Takata detonated 27,000 airbags and the highest failure rate vehicles had a failure rate of 2.16%. Those were at that time 12-14 year old vehicles with a faulty airbag detonator and still only 2% failure.
Either way, having no airbag in your car is demonstrably less safe than even a faulty, old Takata airbag.
My main point about the Takata recall though was that there are now 50 million used cars out there that have a new airbag system. So you can find a used car covered by the recall and check to see if the airbag has been replaced and if not then get it replaced for free, and then you have the best of both worlds: new airbag and relatively cheap, used car.
I don't think it makes sense to say that is a key, because the basics have to be done equally on newer and older cars and it's easy to find someone to do them for a reasonable price. The issue with an older car is that it is more likely to have non-routine repairs, which tend to both be expensive if done by a professional and hard to assess how much they should cost.
You can also buy a basket case for $3,000, so you do need to have a bit of an idea of what to look for (or what to avoid).
Where are the resources to learn what I 'need to look out for'?
...if your looking for something fun, reliable, and manual. Otherwise just get a Camry or a Matrix or something like that.
/r/justrolledintotheshop
It has lasted me 5.5 years now with no maintenance except oil changes.
I brought it to the mechanic once for a check engine light and I had it back by lunch with a trivial fix for like $150, and other than that am just doing normal maintenance.
I could buy a Tesla or whatever if I wanted to without it really noticeably effecting my immediate position, but from the perspective of my car being an appliance that does its job, I see no reason to spend more than I did, at least until I can get something that I can go to sleep in and wake up 100s of miles away at a beach or ski resort.
There are other ways to incinerate 50k that I'd get more joy out of than buying a car, but even beyond that I'd rather just leave it all in investments to get my capital gains above my expenses as fast as possible.
If you had enough in capital gains to buy the car from just those gains, or if you are a person that is really genuinely going to get $50k worth of joy out of it and make enough that the expense won't add any stress then I would start to not be able to argue with it financially, but I think both of those are very few people.
Having a cheap second hand car available is the result of someone buying an expensive new car. You need the latter to get the former.
And its not that I'm an outlier or anything, most of my friends have stories in the same ballpark. To be honest I even paid a bit too much due to my inexperience, if you're smart and know the right people you could get a better car at close to half the price.
Geographic variation in pricing not only fully explains the difference but actually leaves me mildly surprised that the difference is so small.
International movement of used cars is a big business, generally from more wealthy countries (where more people buy new cars) to less wealthy ones, but also to cover gaps in the market if there's a disbalance in some sector e.g. a surplus of used vans because of some large company selling them off, or a lack of a particular model that's randomly gotten in fashion somewhere.
But it's pretty well established that near end-of-life cars are cheaper on an annual basis than at other points in their lifespan. I don't know anything about cars myself. Never worked on one. By buying before I need to (mostly) negotiation is easier. I can wait for the right price.
My biggest mistake was buying a (probably) repaired-after-crash car for $2,000 and not reselling it soon enough—everything kind of went at once. Best buy was $100 for a non-running car that a mechanic had been puzzled by that needed only $450 to fix, and is still running, five years later. (It did have a windshield crack that was hit by a tree branch before I could pay to get it repaired, so additional luck there—insurance covered the branch situation, but not the pre-existing crack).
All this said, I'm considering buying a new Model 3.
1) Your TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) for a cheap used car can't be $100/month. If you look at Kelley Blue Book or similar websites, they'll tell you that even super cheap cars like that 2005 Ford Focus will still cost you $300-400/month, all included.
2) I almost died in a car accident two years ago, and a result, I value car security way more than before, which means I wouldn't mind paying $35,000 for a very safe car (assuming I'll be able to afford it).
3) Salaries and wealth are not evenly distributed. Something that looks expensive to you, doesn't for someone else.
My personal econobox, which I've had for a bit over five years, has so far run around 0.17 cents per km, or $155/month, with around 12,000 km/yr. Fixed costs (insurance, registration) add about $75/m.
My last two vehicles were
1. 2005 Chrysler Pacifica. Paid $16,500 in '07. Sold in '17 for $1,900. A few sets of tires, insurance premiums, and (gently) hitting a couple of deer put it around $225/mo over those 11 years.
2. 2009 Pontiac Vibe. Paid $14,500 in '11. Still have it and it's only needed minor repairs (knock on wood). Sitting around $250/mo TCO, but it's still worth a few thousand.
YMMV.
To be clear, the $155/m is for marginal costs, total marginal+fixed is $155+$75= $230/m.
(BTW, I say all of this as someone who finally pulled a trigger on a "Lemur" Model 3 earlier this week).
There is also the practical - when you buy a used car between 3k and 6k, you are basically on the long tail maintenance wise. It's a good bet that the reliability of the car, and the efficiency of the car are both dramatically less then then a new car. I also enjoy snappy acceleration and a car with a low center of gravity. You get into a Model 3, and Internal Combustion Cars just feel like a horrible piece of legacy technology. Could I get away with a old Ford Fiesta or a beat up Civic? Yep - and this is replacing a 15 year old Honda CRV... but I bought that Honda CR-V new, and I have gotten every bit of value from it - and I'm passing it on to family.
I would (and in fact, am) taking the Tesla over any of the others, despite my early idea that I would get a BMW. I just didn't like the responsiveness of the car, the clutter and BMW nickle and dimeing me for repairs and things like carplay.
I really liked the Volvo, but the things in the Volvo that I liked - the technology, and the panoramic roof, I could get for cheaper with the Model 3.
I finally pulled the trigger when the Midrange ("Lemur") Model 3 became available. At that point, my out of pocket costs on the Tesla was cheaper then the Volvo and the BMW.
If you have not already tried it - go test drive a model 3. It's a lot of fun.
Reliability of an old car can be an issue, but if you find a good mechanic, he will go over junky car, fix and replace what is needed, and on top of 3-5k you spend maybe another 3-5k at most. Even better is to have an used car be shopped around up by such a mechanic, but that often requires a friendship on some level. Voila, reliable car for 6-10k, you just need to get a check once a year (shouldn't be costly if initial one was done properly).
I have 15-yer old BMW 3-series, amazing car. Won't change it till it dies/crashes/gets stolen. Fiancee bought before old Toyota Corrola combi for 5k - amazing workhorse. Driving experience is crap compared to BMW, but it just keeps working, consumes nothing (diesel 2l engine). New one costs easily 4x more, for very little added value.
Unless your pay directly depends on you being reliably on time someplace, or you commute over longer distances in some higher white collar job, this is enough.
2. A lot of new cars are purchased with auto loans (44% of Americans are paying an auto loan)
3. The average new car loan amount is going up by a lot (reocrd high of $31,000 now)
4. A lot of people are defaulting (5.8% are > 60 days late, higher than the financial crisis years)
PDF warning https://static.ed.edmunds-media.com/unversioned/img/industry...
Consumers Skip More High-Rate Auto Payments Than During Crisis
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-05-14/consumers...
So to answer your question seriously, people take out auto loans and lease expensive cars because they like buying expensive things, even if they can't really afford it.
I used to do the whole used car thing, but at this point in my life I spend more to feel safer and to be more comfortable. I still have never spent more than $25k on a car, but I definitely want to drive something that I am confident will not break down.
If the aggregate demand goes down for all the cars, prices should also go down across the spectrum (to varying degrees, but still)
But the question remains, if everyone who bought new cars kept them for 20 years and drove them a lot, what would the used car market look like?
I've seen people commenting that the money you save on buying new just goes on repairs instead: I don't agree. There's a fashion and entertainment value to driving something that works just as well as a new car but is newer, so the market gets pushed down.
When I bought used cars, in the 2-5K range, they would last about 3 years before I felt I needed to trade them in, and I'd be constantly working on them. A new car gives me a break for about 8 years or more before I really have to work on them (other than regular maintenance). And that is really nice knowing that I can get in the car in the morning, and have a really high rate of confidence that I'll get to work and get home.
The other thing, having a car from day 1 means that I know how it was maintained. The biggest item is having it garage kept, keeps the morning dew off it and therefore have fewer problems with internal components (and rusting) over time.
After working with vehicle data for 6 years, I can guarantee that someone who buys a 1-year-old Prius is actually paying less per month than you are for your 2005 Focus.
People who buy brand new cars are obviously paying a huge "drive it off the lot" tax in the form of depreciation, but they know that and think it's worth it. Some people are afraid to buy used, some like to drive a new car.
It's just another example of "it's expensive to be poor". If you can buy a better car, you end up paying less over the course of your owning it.
Of course, that idea breaks down if you buy something unreliable AND expensive. It also becomes fuzzier with luxury cars, since they're expensive to repair.
But a used, super-reliable car that holds value well, like a Prius or a Camry, is generally going to have the lowest total cost of ownership out of the whole spectrum of car options.
Good approach...you gotta live a little :-)
I like getting a vehicle with the features I want and the room to haul all my various sports gear. I've bought used vehicles but, generally speaking, I like being able to buy a car with the features I want and basically not having to materially think about maintenance for a very long time. I can't say that I've found the used cars I have purchased to be particular deals in the long run. Car maintenance is one thing I'm willing to pay just not to deal with as much as possible.
I do think a lot of people spend more on cars than they can/should. I could spend less myself but on an annual basis I'm pretty frugal and haven't had a car payment for many years.
Most people don't have 1 hour commutes.
(Not limited to cars; see the fact that even well earning individuals in the UK, US, etc, could only weather a few months without work because they scale up lifestyle to match).
That, and that many people actually have money. London alone has over 400,000 millionaires by NW, one years' interest on that pays for a Tesla.
This is basically the real answer.
> London alone has over 400,000 millionaires by NW
But that's mostly because of house prices no? Those don't pay interest?
If you own your home outright you're done. Add another 100-200k or so and you're (baseline) retired in a country with healthcare, etc.
After that, do whatever you want with your money, it's fun coupons.
Most auto companies like GM and Ford are producing EVs to meet regulations that they're actively trying to get rid of. Others like VW are only doing it as part of legal settlements. Supporting them financially would be potentially to our benefit and not the planet as given the opportunity they'd dump EVs and go right back to the ICE. The remainder aren't investing in technology, they're just licensing it from the big 3.
We needed a larger sedan and considered hybrids like the Accord or Camry but older models only have efficiencies comparable to small sedans like the Corolla where as the 2019 models see much higher gains. Additionally the hybrid models are a premium approaching the $40k range.
With the full Federal Tax credit, the Model 3 we bought will cost around $44,000. This is the first new car either of us has bought and while it's a non trivial cost, it's something we can easily afford.
People think used Toyotas are made of gold. You could almost have a different Tahoe (in equivalent condition) for each day of the week at that price point.
Tahoes? Yeah. You're going to put a significant amount of maintenance into an over 100k Tahoe. They're nice vehicles but the maintenance costs are more than I want to pay.
I drive an early 90s shitbox and have an almost exactly 60mi commute. Obviously it would be a massive waste of time to try to keep it in tip top shape at all times but it's really not the stressful "am I going to break down today?" experience that some would think. The main difference between my current shitbox and the variety of late 2000s and early 2010s cars I used to drive for work is that the 90s interior rattles a lot more and there's more wind noise.
Buying quality means I spend less of it maintaining a vehicle.
I will be supplementing this with a 10+ year old hatchback for better gas mileage and less wear on the truck. I'm expecting to pay around $5k for that too.
I also replaced a LEAF with a Tesla. Ever since doing that, my girlfriend has been asking to go back to the LEAF, because it got the job done just fine and wasn't complicated.
However, I work for a company that offers a lease budget, meaning I am actually able to drive a $35K car at a small bump in taxes (that is, a percentage of the value of the car is added to my annual income and taxed as income tax accordingly. I get free fuel from work though otoh so it's a good deal).
Especially in Europe and / or my segment of work, lease cars are a huge market - tens of thousands of cars - and Tesla will make a HUGE impact on that once they become available over here. Europe and my country are much more suitable for electric cars too, in that distances are generally much lower.
That said a number seem to be:
* Company cars * Bought as part of 'own company' * Leased * Hired * Hire/purchase
Then a lower number: * Bought with autofinance * Bought with a bank loan * Bought on a CC
Very few (if any) are bought in cash. I remember my father (who has never been a rich man) buying his car in cash, (£10,000 in 1996) with the plan that this would last him. It did for 13 years.
I was shocked when my brother bought a new van recently - but at less than £200 a month, it worked out less than buying a banger and having to fix it - he needed a van for his job, so can't afford to have a day or days without a working vehicle. I think that is what it comes down to for most people who do buy new. 'Perception' of vehicle less likely to breakdown.
The answer is simple. People are different. Some prioritize travel. Some prioritize Home-ownership; and some require a nice car.
You are neither a genius nor frugal. Different people will have different priorities.
But I did change my mind and get a Model 3.
* Autopilot is quite nice. I'd compare the experience to driving a car with cruise control as compared to one that doesn't have it. It's not the end of the world, but if you have a car with cruise control, it's tough to imagine intentionally buying your next one without it barring financial difficulties.
* Not having to fill up at gas stations is nice. There's a little more planning involved for trips, but for normal day-to-day, it's waking up every day to a full tank.
* Upcoming software updates. The initial Model 3s didn't have summon or the dashcam feature, both of which have been added over the air, and more of which will be added sooner.
* I think the auto industry in general has become stagnant and "safe" in terms of innovation, and I want to support a disruptive entity that will force the others to re-think the ways they're doing business.
* It's got an API, which already has third party tools for an Apple Watch app, detailed analytics, etc.
* They're taking a risk with the interior of the car, with the lack of gauge cluster and spartan design. To me this looks like what happened when the software industry switched from "as many UI buttons and features as possible" in the '90s to the simplified, "overall user experience" focus we see in modern software. And I want to support that.
* There's some "feel-good" factor to damaging the environment less, and supporting the market that will allow for society to join in.
I agree with you in that I can't imagine spending $63k on a non-Tesla. The differences between a basic used car and a new Mercedes or something just don't justify it. But I do feel differently about the Tesla.
I guess this is fine if you live in California, but a car that I can't operate while wearing heavy mittens is literally unusable to me for nearly half the year.
The nav / media controls do, but those can be voice operated, too. And a lot of the media controls work from the steering wheel knobs (play pause skip back etc.), also.
EDIT: And all Teslas can have their climate control turned on remotely by the app / API, and can be safely warmed up even in an enclosed space (since there are no fumes).
In practice, I rarely adjust the climate setting after setting it to the temperature / orientation I want, but I suppose everyone is different.
To me it feels a lot like when many used to claim they could never get an iPhone because they prefer a physical keyboard. But I suppose we’ll see how the industry responds over the next few years.
Hooking that all up to voice operation sounds fine though (though preferably customizable, so I could have a single command to say, turn on seat warmers, turn blower to max, set output to windshield) - I never use voice operation for my phone because it's obnoxious to so in public, but that's not a problem if I'm in my car.
Part of the phenomenon may be branding too. Cars are used as a status symbol. It’s not necessarily used to broadcast that you’re a “better” person than others, but maybe that you have “good taste” and “can afford it” (think something like expensive designer handbags but more functional).
And some people are just dopes who spend money or go into debt with thinking about it. They’re financially illiterate. These are people who make emotional purchases and feel very excited and happy about their new car, who gripe about their debt two months later when reality sinks in. I feel bad for them.
It's also an entirely incomplete picture on their financial situation. Maybe they have a paid for living situation so this is their only liability, maybe they don't have any money in their savings account, maybe they don't have a retirement account.
And with Tesla it's probably even more complicated because there are some "feel good" motives to buying an electric car that may outweigh any sane financial decision.
I had previously been driving old cars, which was OK, but I had never bought a new car before, so it was nice from that perspective.
It also had some features that I wanted and do appreciate. Like Bluetooth, USB audio storage, and various safety features. Excellent fuel economy too.
I plan on keeping it 15 years and/or 200K miles, or more, so the amortized cost isn't bad. Given my age, it is likely the only and last new car I'll ever purchase, because I'm sure the driving landscape will be substantially different than it is today.
EVERY used car was once a new car. How many times do you think a car gets sold? Perhaps 3 or 4 including the original new sale? If so then 25 percent of car sales are new car sales. Another thing to consider is the resale price of a car. With an old used car you may think you'll drive it until it's used up and junk it, while the previous owners kept it until it was "used up" in the sense that they sell it and get some money for it.
Sure new cars are generally over prices, but TCO is still an important consideration.
Buying a new car seems like such an unreasonably expensive luxury that I am genuinely surprised there are enough people wealthy enough to keep the industry going.
I know so many people who have a car that's costing them over $600 a month all in. That really confuses me, because that's just about the price of a bedroom in our area.
It is entirely feasible to live on $1000 to $1500 a month here as a single person and bank the difference in salary without feeling like you are truly being frugal!
I have friends that have spent $140k on their Tesla model X, or $190k on their Porsche 911 Turbo. That seems too high for me. Shrug. Everyone is different in their priorities. Most of these are leases where they’re paying maybe $5k a month. When you make $300-400k a year or more with current low rates it’s not terrible.
a fully optioned 911 turbo S lease is about $2900/month. most high end 911's lease around $2000/month. most high end bmw's and mercedes sedans (M, AMG, etc.) lease around $1500/month.
these leases are usually tax deductible for business owners and consultants (1099, K1, etc).
and you're right, the problem with HN is some people just have no idea how much money people in technology are really making. these lease payments are a drop in the bucket compared to personal earnings or, more to the point, a successful small business' revenue.
For now I love my 40mpg and low maintenance and insurance costs of a 10 year old hybrid Civic.
But you have to think about all the people who buy cars for other reasons...supposed signaling, the impression it gives others, devout brand loyalty, good old consumerism... There's just so many reasons that are "misguided" from a financial perspective, but logical from the personal perspective.
Yes, I know most of electricity is still generated from fossil fuel sources. But baby steps.
Btw, I ended buying a Honda Insight.
There might be comfort features in a more expensive car someone wants, also, new cars come with warranties. Or even certified used tend to be more recent cars with warranties. Car repair can be one of the more expensive unexpected expenses. Not to mention depending on your commute and job detrimental to your life.
Do you live in an expensive area? Seems likes spending most of your income on food and rent at that income level is high.
All in all I am still buying second hand cars but the investment into new cars is not what it seems at first.
Further, that $50k is being more and more hidden in things like low-mileage leases, so it doesn't FEEL like that...it only feels like $400 a month and you get a new car in 3 years...but nothing to show for it after the fact.
Drivetrains don't usually fail, anyway, it's all the little bits around the edge that nickle and dime you to death.
So I’m now considering buying a model 3 in the next 1-2 years. If I can’t make it work financially, I’ll just make do without a car until that changes.
> Are there really hundreds of thousands of people who are making $5,000+ a month necessary to justify the purchase of such an expensive vehicle?
Look around; do you see said cars? There you go.
the first group views a car as an appliance, and will generally buy the cheapest one that will get them where they need to go and haul their stuff around. you tend to see these people driving crossovers.
the second group actually enjoys driving, and will seek to get the nicest car that fits in their budget. the minimum viable car and the nicest car you can afford can be very different in cost.
There was a status upgrade involved and an online coupon code.
Why does anyone spend $35,000 - $50,000 on a car? It just feels like a number that is at least 5x too high.
A used car from a fairly reputable source can be had for between $3,000 - $6,000, depending on mileage and cosmetic appearance. My 2005 Ford Focus sedan was $3,000 and should last me about 3 years before I need to make a decision about major repairs, so that's less than $100 a month in ammortized costs.
Are there really hundreds of thousands of people who are making $5,000+ a month necessary to justify the purchase of such an expensive vehicle? I'm not far from that number and most of my money still goes to food and rent.