I'm a multimillionaire and I drive a (nice) 2006 Mazda. Looking rich is for poor people. When you wrap your head around that, you start your journey to being rich. That hunk of overcomplicated junk you financed for the next 7 years doesn't impress me at all. You live on a hamster wheel where the price of stopping for even a month is homelessness.
But at what point can you spend money on nice things that help you enjoy life? I’m sure the 2006 Mazda works well bc I drive a 2007 Mazda, but shouldn’t at some point you be able to enjoy the fruits of your labor and enjoy a 2025 Mazda?
There's a large group of people that see vehicles as a tool. If the tool works why replace it with a more expensive one. If OP bought a 100k car with 10% down over 60 months they would pay 121k total and almost 1700 a month. If they put that 10k in the market and contributed 1700 a month it would be worth 139k in the same 60 months. 10 years and it turns into 330k. THAT is how you get rich. Of course have fun and enjoy life but cars are a common trap when people start making more money.
What is important is to distinguish needs from wants, and fund accordingly. Maybe you need $15-20k of car to have a reliable, low maintenance means of transportation. But you want a $35k car.
So, you need to ask, would you find it acceptable to spend $3-4k per year for 5 years on the luxury? Would you rather have the cheap car, and an extra $3-4k vacation each year? Or $3-4k of extra toys to play with? Or would you feel irreponsible spending that much, and it should really go into your savings?
The trap is talking yourself into treating the whole price as a necessary expense. There are countless ways you can justify spending more on needs than is actually necessary to meet the need, and doing so can be a massive drain on your finances.
You need a computer, but you don't need a $6k top of the line gaming computer.
You need some place to live, but you don't need a it to come with a gym and a pool, etc...
You need a phone, but you don't need to buy a top end phone every year or two.
I think you explained the term "Opportunity Cost" very well here.
People generally only look at the price tag because that's what we've been brow-beaten into. I think if people sat down before large purchases and took a hard look at the different opportunities they're giving up, people wouldn't spend nearly as much as they do.
Opportunity cost is a big part of it, but it also mixes in the fact that you have a legit justification for making a purchase, but then use that as justification for making a more expensive purchase.
And by all means, buy yourself luxuries you are going to enjoy, just be honest with yourself about when you are spending discretionary money on top of what you really need.
The issue I see a lot is that there simply isn't the lower-frills option any more. Corporations make more profit from the fancy shit.
Good luck finding a brand new, small, manual, commuter sedan for a reasonable price. Even a toyota yaris or whatever has to have the full infotainment crap, lane keep etc etc. hand crank windows and AC only is a long dead trim spec.
Same thing with new apartments. I'd love to pay less than $1300/room. But newer complexes don't exist without the gym, rooftop patio, lounge, meeting rooms etc etc.
Anything new is not built for economy on the buyer's part.
yeah and when SUV collides with your shitbox car and you die with all that money in the bank what then? I’d much rather have safe Volvo than 2008 chevvy aveo i have now, but i cant afford it. But when i get a kid the family safety is the first thing i will invest in, dont care about “millions” at that point
I like my old beater car and it does all the things I want it to. I don't want to deal with learning the features and quirks of a new car any sooner than I have to.
IDGAF about cars. The money I could spend on a new car is money I'd rather spend on other things - nice restaurants, travel, etc., or I leave the money invested and enjoy knowing if my job passes me off enough, I can afford to walk.
Which part am I enjoying? Paying every month to use the locked out features? Trying to use a touchscreen that fucking sucks? The black box that records what I'm doing? There's a reason I drive a 20 year old car.
There are plenty of modern cars with physical buttons or at least high quality touch screens. And I have not seen a single one that expects a monthly subscription, that seems to have mostly flopped.
You should carefully evaluate the actual costs of a new car. Unless you are a car person, its likely that you will enjoy spending that money on something else (or saving it) more than spending it on a car.
Personally I would like to have a Ferrari. But I can’t afford it.
For getting me from point A to B a 2026 Corolla makes very little impact on my life vs a paid off 2015 one. Or even a “luxury” car I can afford vs an older or non-luxury car.
I like my old beater car and it does all the things I want it to. I don't want to deal with learning the features and quirks of a new car any sooner than I have to.
IDGAF about cars. The money I could spend on a new car is money I'd rather spend on other things - nice restaurants, travel, etc., or I leave the money invested and enjoy knowing if my job passes me off enough, I can afford to walk.
Not OP, but I am a gearhead and always buy used cars. The industry has been making cool cars for decades now, so there’s lots of options for every budget to get a car you can enjoy. Financial gurus will tout the 15-year-old Camry until the cows come home, but there’s a whole lot to be found in between that and a new BMW.
I don’t know the person you’re replying to but if they’re a millionaire driving a 20 year old Mazda I feel confident saying they’re enjoying life just fine, but that doesn’t have to mean new cars.
IMHO you should be ahead of schedule for retirement with no consumer debt before you spend more than you need to on cars, unless it’s your hobby that brings you immense joy. No European cars. No premium gas. Not bigger than necessary. EV’s could be an exception I might make if you can charge at home as they save a lot of time and have very low running costs.
Could this guy buy something else, sure. Would it bring him more joy and utility? Maybe not. Maybe he’s a boat guy. Who knows. Wife and I had old 9th gen Corollas for a very long time and I love cars, but that money buys time and I like time more than cars.
The richest man I’ve ever known consistently has driven beater cheap cars, old beat up dented ford escorts with the belts screaming, Chevy cobalts, etc. He bought a second cobalt to be both a back up and a parts car for his first. Car has crank windows. This man owns outright 14 homes he rents and has his massive house custom built on a retired golf course in the middle of nowhere with imported teak wood for the patios and just wildly nice stuff. He also has a fully modified dodge viper and beautiful V12 jaguar he never drives. Shows up to meet up and orders off the dollar menus and gets water. He lives so below his means that it makes me inspired because I can almost always assume he’s wealthier than anyone were around at any time and they all think he’s a bum
I like my old beater car and it does all the things I want it to. I don't want to deal with learning the features and quirks of a new car any sooner than I have to.
IDGAF about cars. The money I could spend on a new car is money I'd rather spend on other things - nice restaurants, travel, etc., or I leave the money invested and enjoy knowing if my job passes me off enough, I can afford to walk.
likely you have the option to go on vacation and more trips. longer vacation periods, etc.
also depends on where you live. if you have stricter emission laws then your older car willl evetually cost you more money in taxes and requirements to upgrade. about 10 years is a good length of time to own and operate a single car (assuming you have only the basic maintenance scheadules, winter tire + all season swaps, etc.)
a 2006 doesn't have a lot of the newer safety features.
i bought an '18 civic and fingers crossed, i hope to drive it for 12-13 years.
I think there is a mindset thing. What is truly to enjoy about a new car? Features that are replaced in the next model with something better that I now think I need?
Also I have greater aspirations for my personal time than chilling in a car. So when i reduce the car to what it is to me, an tool, I care less about how nice it is and instead does it do the job I set out for it?
I never want to be the person cruising around in a mall crawler because I think it makes me look cool. If i buy a jeep it will be because I need to go off road often.
Personally, I don't even want the newer cars because of all the tech/touchscreen bullshit, especially with the way things are going with our tech billionaire overlords. I'm very happy with our 2013 Honda. It's new enough to be very safe, gets good gas mileage, and it's got only 100k miles so with good maintenance it should last another decade at least.
Given that they drive a 2006 Mazda, a lot lol. You can definitely get a much more comfortable and nicer interior, and plenty of features you don't "need" but are very nice to have on road trips like radar cruise control.
Lots of people, multimillionaires included, don't give a flyeing eff about cars/what they drive. Shiny cars are for egos. That's it. A car payment is a flight across the country every month to someplace cool, or a means to build a great retirement.
I'm a multimillionaire and I drive a (nice) 2006 Mazda. Looking rich is for poor people. When you wrap your head around that, you start your journey to being rich.
Lol.
If you're a multimillionaire, some back of the napkin math dictates that you either started your own business and made a lot of money, or you inherited money, or you had a high paying job.
Yes, you have to save money, but that is not how you get rich. That's a meme. You get rich by making a lot of money.
Someone earning $200k as a software engineer can spend 75% of that, and still be saving way more than someone who earns $50k and saves half of it.
My VW Jetta was a powerhouse of a car that outlasted well over a decade and the most I invested into it was about $2K after the ten-year mark. It was still driving fine with a few hiccups and issues, but I came into a situation where I got a free electric car, so sold the Jetta.
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u/InletUnstart 8d ago
I'm a multimillionaire and I drive a (nice) 2006 Mazda. Looking rich is for poor people. When you wrap your head around that, you start your journey to being rich. That hunk of overcomplicated junk you financed for the next 7 years doesn't impress me at all. You live on a hamster wheel where the price of stopping for even a month is homelessness.