Comment by nimbius | Hacker News Reader

Comment by nimbius | Hacker News Reader

I am a professional engine mechanic by trade, however during my apprenticeship I worked at a luxury dealership so these complains are painfully familiar to me. Back in the day, it was the BMW I-Drive controller or the center console navigation ring that people hated.

Do you want to know how you can tell if someone can actually afford a luxury car? Its not whether they get good financing, or whether they get options, its whether or not its serviced.

>but I’m equally sure I’d be charged some outrageous fee for that “service”.

You see, actual luxury vehicle owners do not question the price at all. They dont see anything other than the signature box on the invoice. You could for example as I have, charge $190 just to replace the light in the glovebox, and they wouldnt think twice about that amount of money. I was once faced with a BMW owner looking at seven thousand dollars to replace their electronic air-ride suspension, and the hardest decision they had to make was whether they should buy another BMW while this one was being serviced.

Luxury owners rarely see opulence as anything more than a disposable commodity. If they dont like the apps, or if they dont like the stereo, they just buy a different car. A salesman once told me of a woman who traded her 8 month old Porsche in for a BMW because she didnt like the little song the car played when it started up.

I appreciate your first hand experience, but it's not at all what the actual demographics of Audi, BMW, or Mercedes-Benz are.

"Actual luxury vehicle owners" are just the mass affluent. There's really nothing special about them. The upper 20% household income demographics of just about any developed nation. Read the sales numbers for literally any of the German big-three. They're just what you expect. A4s sell more than any other Audi sedan; Q5s sell more than any other Audi SUV.

The typical owner isn't someone with a 7-series.

Makes for a nice story, though. And sure, the mass affluent frequently lease. They also often live beyond or max out their means.

It’s a component that is there.

I used to sell computers at retail. Probably 5% of customers were mega-rich. One guy dropped $50k on laptops and accessories for his kids for Christmas. Another lady paid me about $5k to run some Ethernet cable, build a fancy desk and setup her workspace.

Your entry level rich person is a surgeon. The Ethernet lady owned a half dozen McDonalds.

Your figures surprise me, maybe they’re for the US? I would have expected sales of a1, a3 and q3 to be way higher than the “true” (longitudinal) models

What percentage of luxury car owners do you think are living beyond their means, versus your actual luxury vehicle owners?

I often wonder about the people who drive late model luxury cars, on the rare occasions I see them in my town. Are they killing it? Or did they buy it on finance to compete with the Jonses?

All of the luxury car owners near me are beyond their means, because if they lived here because they’re frugal, they wouldn’t own the car.

My "this is what I'd do if I was super rich" fantasy isn't a ferrari or a rolls royce. It's having a driver. I find car ownership and driving stressful.

And at that point you go and buy a Rolls-Royce or Bentley because you find that they are very suitable for a backseat passenger.

Some people don’t care about the newest, shiny thing. They just want to buy the best thing they like when they’re in the market for it and then use it until it needs replacing.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Millionaire_Next_Door

I don’t know how it is in the US but my dad and the dads of many of my friends here in Spain have owned Mercedes, Audis and BMWs for decades and none of them ever thought like that for a second. I know so in fact, because bitching about official service gouging is a national sport around these parts, and for good reason.

There are plenty of people with more money than those people who would scoff at that kind of stuff out of pure principle, culture or growing up poor.

Or it's a tax deduction because leasing cars are deductible while buying them is not as easily deductible, so it's overall cheaper for them to act that way then to be traditionally money smart about it.

Yeah, I’m definitely not a typical luxury car owner. I got a mid-range car from a high end brand, and I got it at a 40% discount because it was a demo model.

I bought a used ford for $14k with all the bells and whistles and flash an Audi has. luxury is in the eye of the beholder.

That's basically why you might buy a Volkwagen - they even kind-of look the same internally. But there's a noticable difference in driving experience, performance and handling.

Nah, a higher end Ford Fusion is an “American Audi”. Same performance, same handling (with the notable exception being the difference between Torsen and a viscous coupled AWD system)

Compare the fusion to an A4 and you’ll find the A4 feels cheaper. Now an A6 does not compare to a fusion, but a Lincoln continental blows it away.

It’s all in the eye of the beholder (luxury by name, or actual feel of luxury). If anything a Volkswagen competes with Honda these days. Utilitarian and bland... plus Volkswagen will have a random electrical failure that totals the car. Now if you had said Nissan you would have had a point (but the price point doesn’t match Ford)

??? An Audi is literally a more expensive VW. In that it’s the same platform, the same engines and drivetrains etc as VW, Skoda and Seat

I would never buy an A4 as they do seem cheap. An A6 is a very different car to drive. Wife had one the other day as a loan car.

The last Ford I owned was about 16 years ago so I don't know what they're like these days. Swapped it for a Honda Jazz/Fit and more recently I have a Golf. The build quality of the VW was a big step up from the Honda. Simply felt more solid and sturdy. Both have been reliable.

What’s interesting is that VW is a premium brand in germany and Europe. The lineup bein. Audi luxury, VW premium, Skoda utilitarian cheap, and Seat sporty cheap.

Always buy the demo.

Last two demos I've bought (both German) were both priced around the same as an equivalently specced brand new Japanese model.

Or second hand models that come with full warranties and have low 4 figure mileage. They're as good as new and easily 20% less than new price.

Soooo glad my 2007 335i doesn't have that first gen iDrive system. Pretty sure it will up the resale value since it worked like crap and the bump in the dash looked terrible.

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