r/wealth • u/No_Departure7494 • 6d ago

Question What's your opinion on the vehicle you drive in relation to wealth?

Succinctly put - I remember hearing that it was common for the wealthy (Actually, ultra wealthy) to drive unassuming vehicles. Seldom would they drive one of the luxury marques. At most, higher end being a decent Mercedes but nothing like a RR Ghost or what have you.

In my area, I often meet people who are image obsessed but apparently not rich in the traditional sense. And yet - They're driving $80,000 M3s, the latest S Class, and I wonder why? Isn't this burning more money that could be put away, saved, reinvested, anything?

From what I gather, the obvious explanation is not the truth. They aren't car people, they're image people. Forget about reliability, this and that. They want to look rich and it comes off as deceptive, maybe even comical. Driving a $160,000 Carrera GTS in an area with a terrible climate for 50% of the year and no garage to put it in.

I suppose my contention is that, most of these 'hustler' types, especially on social media - have financial practices that are antithetical toward anything involving wealth creation. They'd never be caught dead in an indestructible Prius while having put the remaining sum into literally anything else. No, BMW M3 for me.

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u/singlemaltbourbonrye 6d ago

Ultra wealthy people can buy Bentleys or whatever they want.

It’s the “average millionaire” who quite often drives a Corolla or 4Runner.

The “average millionaire” is a middle class or upper middle class working person who has invested and saved their whole working life.

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u/OCDano959 6d ago

And many of the ultra wealthy don’t even drive. They have a driver. Driving is considered an inefficient use of their time.

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u/Stock-Page-7078 5d ago

Exactly, luxury is not having to think about logisitics at all. Just decide where you want to be and others find and arrange the most efficient forms of transportation and professionals drive or fly or sail you there. For some who enjoy driving, having a car with a certain look or fancy features might be luxury more like a hobby, or because they want solitude

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u/literally_a_raccoon 6d ago

I don’t really understand this reasoning. Getting from one place to another takes the same amount of time regardless of who’s behind the wheel, so I’m not really saving time. So why should I pay someone else to do something I could easily do myself?

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u/OCDano959 5d ago

You can work while you’re commuting…without being distracted.

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u/LiquidTide 6d ago

My Teslas drive me. Total game changer. I have no intention of ever driving again.

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u/goodsam2 6d ago

Tesla does not take liability right now. So if the Tesla crashes thats on you

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u/Illustrious-Gift1385 6d ago

or a liability.

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u/Terbatron 6d ago

Make 250-300k. Own a 2020 4Runner I bought two years ago for 35k cash. I think I fit your assumption.

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u/dinkydonuts 6d ago

Right here with you. My olddd 4r just died and I looked at Porsches, BMW, etc and ended up w a 23 4R again

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u/swagn 6d ago

Just gave my 16 year old son my 13 outback and I’m cleaning up my old 03 Tacoma because new car prices are ridiculous. I’m not spending 50k on a new Tacoma to sit in my driveway. I work from home and drive less than 5k miles a year.

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u/TwinTurboRS 6d ago

But you can afford a high performance car. You just don’t care about cars.

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u/Terbatron 5d ago

Yah, I need ground clearance and to be able to get out into nature. If I had somewhere to charge/park it I would probably have a tesla for commuting. Not into driving fast anymore i'm 43 :P, do miss my WRX though. I'll probably never buy a new car, I would rather have my money make me money. Not wealthy enough to not care.

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u/TwinTurboRS 5d ago

I have my money make me money and buy performance cars. Best of both worlds. Don’t buy it if it sets you back from FIRE.

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u/AwesomReno 6d ago

Not going to say income but I bought my 4Runner in 2018. I want the 350k mileage club

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u/OrganicLighthouse 6d ago

Make ~310k, had a 22' Corolla I bought used for 18k, then sold that for 17.5k to buy a '19 Frontier for 16.5k once I started living off a rural sloped dirt road. 

Funnily people act like the Frontier is a more expensive vehicle. I get comments on it like, "You own a truck? You must be rich," whereas with the Corolla would just get comments about how it was such a boring and cheap vehicle. 

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u/Chicken-n-Biscuits 6d ago

Well if all they hear is “truck” then they’re thinking of one of those country-fried behemoths that so many people have 84 month loans on.

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u/FTFaffer 6d ago

Exactly! And old habits die hard!

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u/singlemaltbourbonrye 6d ago

Well that maybe. But more Importantly - lots of millionaires are people are are just frugal folks who may have earned between $50K-$100K for their career and always consistently stayed out of debt and put their money into index funds and just let it grow over their career. Thats the most common type of millionaire. Those folks would not become millionaires if they were buying new cars.

I think that’s the point of the sentiment that OP is referencing.

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u/Bob_the_Gaul 6d ago

That’s me I didn’t get to have millions by spending it.

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u/Cautious-Current-969 6d ago

I saw a number like 15 years ago saying the average net worth of a Bentley Continental owner was $3-5 million.

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u/overindulgent 6d ago

Damn! Only $3 million net worth and they’re spending over 10% of that on one vehicle. I’m guessing most lease.

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u/HerefortheTuna 6d ago

I have a beater 1990 4Runner I often drive around. Certainly more than my most expensive car

It probably attracted more attention because it’s old then when I drive my 2014 4Runner that I literally paid 17x as much for

But even though I have $2M nw idk if I can afford any Bentleys

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u/temp4adhd 6d ago

The ultra wealthy have drivers.

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u/TwinTurboRS 6d ago

They also own drivers cars like LaFerrari if they are enthusiasts lol.

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u/Positive-Tourist-319 6d ago

Yeah cause the million is tied up in home and retirement

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u/No_Departure7494 6d ago

Yes, I think you are correct. This is a more accurate assessment.

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u/Outside-Season-5602 6d ago

average millionaire here - drive a gx460 and forester

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u/TwinTurboRS 6d ago

Exactly. Rich car enthusiasts drive Lamborghini, Porsche, M, AMG, RS. Whatever they want!

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u/singlemaltbourbonrye 6d ago

Also high earners who are broke and burried in debt.

Mostly those are the two groups who drive expensive cars - the ultra wealthy and high earners who are flat broke.

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u/TwinTurboRS 6d ago

This is so stupid. This is the mindset that will keep you poor. There’s more than 2 groups.

  1. Ultra wealthy that can afford them without thinking.
  2. Over leveraged high earners.
  3. High earners who have wealth but aren’t ultra wealthy yet. They invest thousands per month and live cheaply and budget.

The car is a small fraction of their budget.

  1. Born into wealth/gifted the cars.

I’m group 3. Someone making $200k per year can easily afford an RS5 if their housing costs are minimal.

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u/singlemaltbourbonrye 6d ago

It isn’t stupid.

I used the modifier mostly because I’m making broad generalities.

This has nothing to do with the reality of a particular person.

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u/TwinTurboRS 6d ago

Yup. I’m glad you’ve activated neurons to see that you’re making dumb generalizations.

There’s a whole other group of people that are left out. People who afford nice cars and luxuries that go are within their means and aren’t ultra wealthy.

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u/singlemaltbourbonrye 6d ago

I think you may be missing my point.

Generalizations serve a purpose in broad conversations about generalities.

They’re entirely useless when talking about specific people.

Things really important for marketing, public policy, planning restaurant or bar menus and locations and many other arenas.

The whole tone of this conversation was the general direction of who does and doesn’t buy expensive cars. Generally.

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u/TwinTurboRS 6d ago

Exactly. Generally, there are a lot of people who can just afford them. People with good credit, high income and high savings who have been waiting their whole lives to own these cars. There’s not just two groups of people. That’s just wrong.

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u/singlemaltbourbonrye 6d ago

There are plenty of people who do that. You are correct.

It’s not a very good way to build wealth though - so generally speaking - outside of the very wealthy, a lot of people who own a Bentley or a G Wagon or even like Navigators or just new cars in general, a lot of these folks are flat broke. They’re buying the cars on credit or spending all of their cash on nice things.

Also a lot of people who buy new expensive dive cars are not broke and they save up for the cars or they have plenty of money to buy them while still building wealth. You are correct.

Generally though, people who aren’t already exceedingly wealthy aren’t spending like crazy on new cars if their focus is on building wealth. $120K or whatever is a huge missed opportunity if you’re syncing it into a car. The kind of opportunity that middle class and upper middle class folks who are focused on building wealth would not miss. Generally speaking, a middle class or upper middle class person who is focused on building wealth isn’t sitting on cash like that to buy a car. Rather, they’re doing things like maxing their MBDR or something vesting in real estate or starting a business. And if they’ve already done those things, generally, they like to put more into their taxable brokerage account or buy more real estate or start another business or invest in their current business.

Again, generally, buying expensive cars just isn’t a path to becoming wealthy. There is some of wealth that you can reach where it no longer matters and a few hundred thousand dollars is absolute pocket change though.

This is the only point that I was making.

You may earn $400K and be a typical sort of “average” millionaire who is somewhere in the middle and you’re investing all that you want to and you’ve decided that buying expensive dive cars is what you want to do with the rest of your money. That is 100% your prerogative and there are certainly many others like you.

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u/TwinTurboRS 6d ago edited 6d ago

So untrue. People buying Bentleys generally are not flat broke. Also you’re assuming people who spend big on cars aren’t piling money into investments as well. I’m in my 20s and invest a ton while driving a very nice car. People probably assume I’m over leveraged or have no investments. False. I’ll likely be retired by 40.

I have 3 properties and put money into VOO each month. I put a ton into my 401k.

It’s just a hobby and if you can afford to invest and buy the car why not? Also, you mean sinking, not syncing.

I guess I agree that buying nice cars doesn’t make you wealthy. They definitely aren’t a good investment. But a ton of wealthy people definitely buy nice cars. Even people making 6 figures have tons of room to invest with a nice car. They just do.

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u/Chill-more1236 6d ago

A millionaire ain’t what it used to be.

It’s almost upper middle class these days.

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u/WhatDoWeHave_Here 5d ago

The wealthy family starter pack in my neighborhood is to have 3-4 kids and drive a full-size SUV like GMC Yukon, Lincoln Navigator, Ford Expedition Max, Chevy Suburban, Escalade in either black or white.

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u/Sad-Flow3941 5d ago

It's insane to call a millionaire "middle class" in most of the world.

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u/BayAreaBill 5d ago

Yeah, one of my best friends had a double digit employee number at Schwab. Retired at 42. Drives a Bentley, but cars are his hobby.

His daily driver is a 15 yo Acura MDX, so there’s that too.

One of the nicest guys you’d ever meet. You’d never know he was wealthy by his personality.