Why do people buy expensive cars?
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Gloomendoom wrote: »Car buyers in general are susceptible to branding and lifestyling. It's not a particularly British trait.
Neither is keeping up with the Jones'...
It is a peculiarly British trait though.
A recent Bbc piece on Brexit stated that the uk is seen as a rich vein of profit for car companies due to the preference for renting or lease deals and the larger turnover per head, they stated the average car in British roads is six years old, whereas it's ten years in Germany and nearly fifteen in Spain.0 -
In British culture, brand snobbery does unfortunately play big part. For many, the age of the car is at the top of the priority list when it comes to car snobbery and purchasing a vehicle. Often, people will override the quality and reliability factor of a certain marque to make place for the age and looks of the vehicle. I've witnessed first hand people opening confessing that a bog standard 2.0 litre diesel Audi A4 must be more expensive than say a Nissan GTR simply because it's an "Audi" and the other is a "lowly Nissan". Shocking to say the least, but most people out there are completely ignorant to motoring knowledge.0
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In British culture, brand snobbery does unfortunately play big part. For many, the age of the car is at the top of the priority list when it comes to car snobbery and purchasing a vehicle. Often, people will override the quality and reliability factor of a certain marque to make place for the age and looks of the vehicle. I've witnessed first hand people opening confessing that a bog standard 2.0 litre diesel Audi A4 must be more expensive than say a Nissan GTR simply because it's an "Audi" and the other is a "lowly Nissan". Shocking to say the least, but most people out there are completely ignorant to motoring knowledge.
I know what you mean, but some sad sack on here pretended he owned a gtr and several other cars. :rotfl:0 -
Can bet my peppered steak that a large proportion of young lasses out there will be more wowed by a new BMW 318d than a 6 year old M3. Or a new bog standard Audi A4 than a 6 year old RS4. A paradox to say the least; the latter, older cars are still worth more than their younger brothers!0
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For some mysterious reason car contract salesman are claiming that the credit checks needed are easygoing. A leap in (especially) British takers seems to confirm this.vikingaero wrote: »Going back to the original question. I have 1 car on lease and 3 private cars. I can see the benefits of ownership/leasing.
People buy expensive cars because they can afford to. Some 86% of cars sold in the UK are leased/PCPed/financed. Leasing offers a cheap way into a particular car, whether you agree with having a car at the end of the lease or not.
Leasing benefits those who manage their finances well. If you are are start up one man company and need a decent reliable vehicle then leasing will get you a new car/van for minimal upfront outlay. It suits people with a vanilla lifestyle - reliable paying job etc etc.
Most people only look at the cost of leasing and compare it to renting a house. That leased vehicle will enable you to reliably commute to work to earn £xx,000, it will allow you to visits friends and family, go shopping, indulge in leisure activities from taking your dog for a walk or dogging...
Not everyone has the mechanical aptitude to run a banger.
Again. Some people will buy flash cars to lord it over their neighbours - it's a very British trait. The British are also highly susceptible to branding and lifestyling - something car makers prey very well on.
Bank of England's taking a hard look at this form of borrowing money - one of many recent press articles:
https://www.theguardian.com/money/2017/feb/10/are-car-loans-driving-us-towards-the-next-financial-crash0 -
And if you're the sort of young lad whose main purpose in buying a car is to impress that sort of young lass - that's the way they'll go. Which then leads to the phenomenon described above of only putting a minimal amount of fuel in the car - it's not for driving, it's for posing.Can bet my peppered steak that a large proportion of young lasses out there will be more wowed by a new BMW 318d than a 6 year old M3. Or a new bog standard Audi A4 than a 6 year old RS4. A paradox to say the least; the latter, older cars are still worth more than their younger brothers!
Equally, there are people who will get into debt they can't really manage, in order to change every few years to show off that they have the latest model or year plate. Just look at the car dealer ads in the local papers every time a new year designator rolls around. Clearly, that image is important to them - they think it's worth the expense even if many of us don't fall for it.
PCP does make that easier - and it's a cultural shift from 50 years back when HP and easy-credit first came in and many people looked down on the idea. Plenty of people do the same with phone contracts, so why not with a car? As long as you are in control of the payments - you are effectively budgeting so much a month for evermore - then owning the thing isn't as important as having the latest model. Of course, you take the risk that if you suddenly lose your source of income and have to bail out of the contract, you now have no asset and have to return to a cheap basic model if you have a bit of capital put away and then start building up again. But many are prepared to take that risk.
My wife has just bought a 4th generation MX-5, brand new. She had the money put away, she wanted something she would enjoy driving. She did think about a 3rd generation to avoid the depreciation but when the dealer was offering incentives and discounts; she would only have been saving £1500 or so unless she went for something around 7/8 years old where maintenance costs would start to kick in. The previous MG was kept for 12 years and this is likely to be kept for 5 to 8.Wash your Knobs and Knockers... Keep the Postie safe!0 -
I was talking to two of our poorly paid clerical workers about cars. Thinking I would give some useful financial advice I said "please don't tell me you're on one of those buy a new car every 3 years contracts". "We're not rich like you" they said. "We can't afford to run an old car. We can't afford a repair." I am still struggling with this concept of the rich all driving old cars while the poor have to have new.0
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I know NOTHING about cars. If I buy a new car I can be as sure as I can be I'm not buying a dud.
I then know it's condition & how it's looked after.
That peace of mind when you know no knowledge or expertise is why I like buying new.
So why don't you spend some time and learn about cars?. I can never understand why people happily pay thousands of pounds for things without understanding them?.
If the only reason you buy knew is because your too lazy to do some research then your lazyness is costing you thousands of pounds in depreciation a year!0 -
I was talking to two of our poorly paid clerical workers about cars. Thinking I would give some useful financial advice I said "please don't tell me you're on one of those buy a new car every 3 years contracts". "We're not rich like you" they said. "We can't afford to run an old car. We can't afford a repair." I am still struggling with this concept of the rich all driving old cars while the poor have to have new.
Because when you're on a minimum wage its about budgeting.
Its "easier" to budget a set amount each month which covers depreciation, maintenance, road tax (if its PCH), servicing (if they got a service pack), roadside assistance than it is to have the ad hoc big bill that an old car will throw up, plus "maybe" end up having to scrap it and fund another car.
With a brand new car available from around £99 a month these days, thats a more palatable approach than buying something @ £1,000 that may not be reliable, may throw up the odd big bill, may have a catastrophic failure that puts it off the road as its too expensive to repair, needs money spent for MOT, etc, etc.0 -
So why don't you spend some time and learn about cars?. I can never understand why people happily pay thousands of pounds for things without understanding them?.
If the only reason you buy knew is because your too lazy to do some research then your lazyness is costing you thousands of pounds in depreciation a year!
Its a convenience thing and its not just about changing an oil filter or discs every now and again.
Older cars these days tend to fail with engine management lights on, so whilst code readers are cheap you need to know how to interpret that. Then theres the finding and fitting of the parts.
Older cars these days that have failures tend to be things like DMFs, clutches, turbos, DPFs (if its a diesel), fuel pumps, injectors, etc, etc.
All hassle and all big ticket items.
And not everyone wants to get their hands dirty - i know i dont and neither would my wife.0
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