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Comment by jamiequint | Hacker News Reader

I think the fact that luxury goods have become attainable by non-millionaires says a lot more about the decrease in cost in luxury goods than the irresponsibility of non-millionaires.

The classification of these goods is also confusing. For example, I drive a Lexus IS250 AWD which would be considered a luxury vehicle but actually comes in at the same price point as Toyota 4Runner.

Additionally, the variance in prices between luxury and non-luxury goods is decreasing. A low-end Lexus now costs less than $10k more than a similarly equipped Subaru Outback or Honda Accord, making the difference when it comes to actual affordability pretty small.

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The difference in cost between a luxury item and a regular item is also masked by the availability of credit. You can lease a high end Mercedes for the same monthly payment as buying a Honda Accord. It could be that a large portion of that 86% of luxury cars driven by non millionaires are leased.

"You can lease a high end Mercedes for the same monthly payment as buying a Honda Accord. It could be that a large portion of that 86% of luxury cars driven by non millionaires are leased."

...which makes the bottom line even more pathetic. You make your payment on the Honda Accord, and after a few years, you own it. It continues to be drivable, and the amortized cost of ownership begins to decline.

If you hop on the luxury-car leasing merry-go-round, then sure, you get to drive a new car every few years, but the payment never goes away. Meanwhile, you've almost certainly over-paid for the car relative to what it would have cost to buy up front.

When it comes to cars, the financially responsible question is not "4Runner or Lexus?"; it is: "can I live without one?"

I think 'can I afford to live without it' is a miserable way of going through life. I certainly could live without ever going to nice restaurants, trying things like kiteboarding and skydiving, going snowboarding or mountain biking, but why forfeit things I enjoy so I can look at my bank statement and see a slightly larger number at the end of the month than I would otherwise?

I'm not advocating asceticism -- if owning a car is so important to you that you're willing forgo other luxuries to do it, then that's your choice. But don't pretend that it's always a sacrifice to live without owning a car, or that the choice to own one is automatically financially prudent.

For many of us, cars are nothing more than a rarely used, depreciating asset with high maintenance costs that gets us from point A to point B. I'd rather rent one occasionally, and spend the money I save on all of the other things you mention.

Cool, I see your point. If I rented a car to go snowboarding/mountain biking as much as I do I'd very likely spend almost as much as owning one ;)

You can also pick up a very nice second hand Mercedes for the same price as a new Honda. And the Mercedes will probably last you longer. Driving a BMW or a Mercedes doesn't have to expensive.

only if you do the repairs yourself. Speaking as someone who paid a (I thought quite reasonable) ten grand or so for a '92 bmw in '99 or '00, I was rather shocked at what you get charged when you drive one into a garage.

If you work on them yourself, sure, then it's not much more expensive.

Oh, also, I'm fairly certain that the German brands are actually a good bit less reliable than the Japanese brands in general. I know that my experience with a less than 10 year old BMW was that it was rather less reliable than my current more than 10 years old Nissan.

I mean, the BMW is a nice car; in terms of handling, I agree that you are getting something for the money. But don't kid yourself. It's going to be quite a lot more expensive than a Japanese car, even if the up-front cost seems reasonable.

Good point. Maybe we should stop thinking of Lexus and Acura as luxury brands.

Real luxury brands are the ones those of us in the middle class can't even consider buying. Maybach. Bentley. Rolls Royce. Bugatti. I could drive a Lexus today if I wanted. Even a BMW. I don't think I'll ever have enough money to blow on a Rolls.

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