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Comment by whiskyant | Hacker News Reader

The model 3 and y is on that top 10 list as well, and they're not quite luxury goods.

I know very little about cars, but a cursory search shows that both the Model 3 and Model Y are about ~60% more expensive than the top-selling sedans and SUVs in the US. They're also both in the same rough ballpark as popular "luxury" car labels (Lincoln, BMW), so I think "luxury" is a fair descriptor.

I don’t think comparing a Tesla’s price to an ICE competitor is an apples to apples comparison.

Sure on the surface a Model 3 price tag looks luxury, but look at full cost of ownership and things start looking downright reasonable. No mandatory scheduled maintenance, no gas costs — charging the thing at home is laughably cheap, brake pads last in to the 100-200k kilometre range thanks to regenerative braking. Don’t forget all the subsidies too against the purchase price.

If you drive a lot, the numbers start getting awfully close to non-luxury vehicles.

And all of this is before you consider the non-monetary drivers of value such as how fun it is to drive, tech gadgets, etc.

I think you're absolutely right: amortized, driving a Tesla for a decade is probably cheaper than driving a brand new luxury sedan. But I don't think that's incompatible with Tesla being a luxury brand: many (although) not all luxury brands advertise themselves through their amortized savings or durability. Put another way: a product's longevity is frequently a selling point for a luxury label, even if longevity itself isn't a guarantee of luxury.

The same is apparent in clothing: I have an expensive, recognizable jacket that I expect to last for the rest of my life. It's undeniably a luxury item, because it costs several times more than even a premium, high-quality jacket would. But it'll probably save me money over the next 60 years, since I won't buy half a dozen merely nice jackets instead.

In the real world, outside FAANGistan , paying 50k for a car, IS a luxury. I said that as a fellow FAANGistanian.

50k is standard for normies in their 40s and 50s and typically financed with a down payment. Typically $600-$700 a month

In case anyone else is wondering: median income for a 50 year old American is around $90K/yr before tax.

median income for a 50 year old American at 90k is skewed high by a small number of people way above 300-400k.

how many millions of americans have a gross yearly income of maybe 35k?

randomly chosen Montgomery county in Kansas:

The median income for a household in the county was $30,997, and the median income for a family was $38,516. Males had a median income of $29,745 versus $20,179 for females. The per capita income for the county was $16,421. About 9.20% of families and 12.60% of the population were below the poverty line, including 16.80% of those under age 18 and 10.90% of those age 65 or over.

randomly chosen Benton county in Washington:

The median income for a household in the county was $57,354 and the median income for a family was $69,834. Males had a median income of $57,496 versus $36,575 for females. The per capita income for the county was $27,161. About 9.3% of families and 12.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 19.3% of those under age 18 and 6.1% of those age 65 or over.[13]

>median income for a 50 year old American at 90k is skewed high by a small number of people way above 300-400k

Medians don't work that way. Maybe you're thinking of the average.

Median income is not the mean. It is the boundary where 50% make less, 50% more. It’s not skewed by outliers like the mean can be.

The median for 45-55 year olds is much higher than the population overall. It’s the highest of any 10-year cohort, IIRC.

Plus high income areas skew up so if you're in some parts of the country a 50k car is on the low end.

This source says the median income for a 50 year old American is $56k: https://dqydj.com/average-median-top-income-by-age-percentil...

Where "normies" == "People who have accumulated wealth during 20+ years and above average savings"? Dunno where you live (in Beverly Hills I guess?), but those "normies" are not the norm anymore. Have you seen how the rest of Americans live outside the big cities?

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