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Who can truly afford luxury cars?
A while back I sold cars for a living.  Over the course of 4 years I worked for 3 different dealerships.  I sold new cars at 2 and used at the last one. When selling new cars I found that the majority of people buying the higher end cars honestly shouldn't have been - 80%+.  They almost always came in owing more on their trades then they were worth, put down very little cash and were close to being financially strapped.   From a financial perspective these deals were hard to close, not because the buyer was picky but rather because their finances were a mess.  Fully half, and probably more, we had to switch from the car they initially wanted down to a much cheaper version or try to convert to a lease because it was the only way the bank would loan the money.  We called them "$30,000 millionaires" because they didn't make a whole lot but tried to look like they did.  As a salesman you knew you were in serious trouble when they didn't even try to negotiate. Around 2% of the deals I did were actual cash deals - meaning honest cash, not those who came in with a pre-approved loan from a bank.  These were invariably for used cars about 3 to 4 years old and they never had a trade in.  The people doing this always looked comfortable but never dressed up, you wouldn't even look at them twice.  The negotiations were hard because they knew exactly how much that car should go for and wouldn't even pay that.   It was obvious they knew the value of money. That said, I've been in the top 3% of wage earners for about 20 years and at no point have I considered myself in a position to "afford" a new "luxury" car.  IMHO, there are far more important things you can do with that kind of money.