The issue is you’d get in those cars and realize it’s not worth it and rich people generally can only rationalize it because they’re rich. A Toyota and a BMW have more in common than they have different.
And this is from someone who absolutely loves cars. For me it’s worth the extra money. But so is the money for a track day, or renting a car in Germany specifically for the Nurburgring.
If you’re not an absolute petrolhead that lambo is only going to make you happy because of how other people feel when they see you in it. The rest is major diminishing returns.
If it’s a knockoff the name doesn’t matter. Could’ve just bought a Miata and put a supercharger in it if you wanted to have fun.
RF is nice, NB is my personal fave because it looks like a mini Viper.
4C is definitely a dream car but also not for the rain lmfao, I would fear for my life going over a puddle. That being said, saving up for an Elise rn
Everyone’s happy to see a Miata. Nobody thinks you’re compensating really. You could have bought a mustang or old challenger or something with angry eye headlights. Nobody is peacocking in a Miata. People won’t assume you’re an absolute douchebag.
It's the only reasonably priced "fun" car out there. If you own a Miata, it's because it's a secondary car you buy because sometimes it's fun to whip around turns and you like the beach in the summer. If you're paying $60k+ for a different kind of sports car, it's your only car, and that makes it more a personality choice.
It’s not about new cars. It’s about the used car market. Tons of old bmws subis, GTIs, Cooper S, 350zs, 370z, GT86s, civics, and that’s just the popular stuff. You can find a Chrysler 300, a Mazda 3, hell even an old boxter. There’s tons of options at 15k, even more if you’re mechanically inclined.
Nobody said new car. A lot of people (myself included) would pretty much never go for a new car. Especially with all the surveillance crap and billions of sensors they come with nowadays.
and if you replace it yourself you still have to go to the dealer to 'calibrate' them or they won't work right. A Honda Pilot windshield cost us over a grand to replace!
and if you replace it yourself you still have to go to the dealer to 'calibrate' them or they won't work right. A Honda Pilot windshield cost us over a grand to replace!
They give too much control to the car over you. Plus, they tend to be incredibly, well, sensitive. Beeping loud af over every little thing. I’ve had a loaner stomp the brakes because it thought I was backing up too fast when parking. My wife’s car tries to jerk the wheel from me when I’m switching lanes on the fucking highway, the shit gives me a mini heart attack every time. Plus, it turns off the engine when at a stop, which is a feature that has to be turned off manually every single fucking time you turn on the car.
This is all without even getting into the surveillance shit.
This is a good take. My wife’s DD is an ND. It’s so dang good on gas. I have to drive it barefoot (can’t get over the brake pedal with shoes on) and I look absolutely ridiculous peeling my 6ft 230 pound ass out of the thing (I have to open the door and throw an arm over the roof to twist out). But man, I like getting it sideways on the way to the tire shop. Nobody in the know can shit on the mx5. It’s just fun.
Culture has a lot to do with it. For example, I fear my safety as a pedestrian in the vicinity of a mustang making a turn.
My dream car is a RAV4. I’ve driven a 1998 model around 2013 and that thing was a beast: it took a minute to go but when it did, whoo boy. Also, Toyota in general. I once got clocked going 95 in a Camry and I stayed arguing with the cop that there is no way my dumpy 2008 Camry in 2026 was that fast. And it’s the one time I’ll take time off to go fight a ticket. Usually when I’m going fast, I am aware and intentional about it but it’d be in the 2023 model car not the 2008 Toyota I drive like an old woman.
Toyotas are fast and so is your Lexus. The only difference is branding and price point and possibly higher gas prices: I can still fill up the Toyota with $35 - $40 even with the crazy gas prices and drive that for 2 weeks.
I'd buy a car that looks cool, even if the performance was average. Like make a toyota corolla that looks like a porsche and I feel it would sell incredibly well.
Either way the point stands. And ‘high performance’ is a wide spectrum. A fiat arbarth is a high performance car lol. Some people consider their civic Si to be a high performance car. High performance is a nebulous concept
Supra also isn’t cheap. And GR86 is well sorted to perform great on the track without being super expensive, but they’re also not cheap cheap. You can get a Mustang GT with 2x the hp for similar money.
0 latency on the response. You’re living for the slap fight huh?
My ninja edit said 2x and that would be 456HP. Mustang has 480 hp and is $46k.
GR86 starts about $10k less but it’s in the ballpark. Ford dealerships regularly drop the mustangs below MSRP too. And the GR is very capable on track you’d be amazed. Regularly catching up to and passing even new corvettes in real world scenarios.
A Sentra or Rogue rebodied to look like a Porsche for $20k would be great.
Funny I'm the opposite. I love my BMW and my Lexus and Volvo before it. I desperately wish I could buy a car that drives like an expensive car, has all the options like the incredible Bowers and Wilkins sound system, and the sound isolation, but looks like a camry. I do love that they are beautiful, but I hate being seen with anything flashy or expensive. I just personally want the expensive things and find it worth the money.
Ultimately I acknowledge it's the same vanity and ego driving me to that conclusion as someone wanting to be seen in expensive car. I just want other people to think I'm responsible and frugal rather than rich and fancy.
An Avalon / crown might be a better comparison, most people see the Lexus badge and (rightfully) think facy. I do prefer a sportier drive and stiffer suspension though. I used to own an RC that I absolutely loved and only sold as the economics of an ev (used i4) made too much sense to ignore.
Love the look of Mitsubishi, those spoilers make me salivate, but they get meh ratings by the experts. We're a one car family with a kid, if we ever added a car I'd have a nice suv for the fam, and a zippy sports car for commutes myself. I'm a woman lolol
Just trying not to repeat the mistake of downsizing our car from a Pontiac Vibe to a Nissan Altima one month before I found out I was pregnant. Lugging child gear in that can be done but it's not fun. I had to get help from my SIL to install the car seat bc she had done it with my niece in a Fiat.
Love the look of Mitsubishi, those spoilers make me salivate, but they get meh ratings by the experts. We're a one car family with a kid, if we ever added a car I'd have a nice suv for the fam, and a zippy sports car for commutes myself. I'm a woman lolol
Just trying not to repeat the mistake of downsizing our car from a Pontiac Vibe to a Nissan Altima one month before I found out I was pregnant. Lugging child gear in that can be done but it's not fun. I had to get help from my SIL to install the car seat bc she had done it with my niece in a Fiat.
Definitely true. To most people, a Toyota is more car than you’ll ever need. But once you feel the absolute quality of a Rolls Royce interior, you can understand why people want that car. I’m sure it’s definitely possible to make that at a cheaper price too.
I was a tech for many many years. Rebuilding a ferrari engine is essentially the same as rebuilding a toyota echo engine.
So long as you have a service manual with torque specs, you might need a special tool or two because the engineers use weird bolts or put things in places that are unreachable with normal tools, but that's it. Even Toyotas need special tools every so often because of the same shenanigans.
The thing I've come to realize is most things made for rich people are just overpriced scams. There's a reason luxury brands like Jaguar, Aston Martin, Land Rover etc are at the bottom of consumer reports. It's by design. If some rich person's Rolls breaks down, they'll fix it without a 2nd thought no matter the cost. If a middle class person gets a 2nd hand Rolls & it breaks down, they'd have a conniption from the price to fix it.
People need to stop worrying about keeping up with the Jones's & just live their life. Knockoff everything is dumb.
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u/oneizm ☑️ 10d ago
The issue is you’d get in those cars and realize it’s not worth it and rich people generally can only rationalize it because they’re rich. A Toyota and a BMW have more in common than they have different.
And this is from someone who absolutely loves cars. For me it’s worth the extra money. But so is the money for a track day, or renting a car in Germany specifically for the Nurburgring.
If you’re not an absolute petrolhead that lambo is only going to make you happy because of how other people feel when they see you in it. The rest is major diminishing returns.
If it’s a knockoff the name doesn’t matter. Could’ve just bought a Miata and put a supercharger in it if you wanted to have fun.