My son who sells Cadillacs and Vettes tells me people put $12-15,000 down and the lease payments are still $1595/mth

We live in the working class part of an old money neighborhood so I get that people have different incomes but DAMN. Even if if I made big money I just dont think I could justify. Maybe its because I was so poor as a kid (lived in my car at 17) that wouldn’t let me even consider it. The Nephrologist (kidney doctor) that lives across the street and makes $600k drives a Jeep not a Bentley.

Best advice is, don't worry about what other people do.

I doubt I will ever buy a new car or lease again. Way too much depreciation and interest.

..but I'm glad other people still do so I can pick them up cheap after they trade/turn them in!

I only worry about it to the extent that people make stupid financial decisions, and then somewhere down the line some politicians are ranting about life being unfair due so some people having financial hardships and it’s somehow my responsibility as a taxpayer and someone who has lived within my means and saved, to bail them out.
And then to be told I’m mean if I am not on board with that.
Personally I’ve never felt it right to flaunt wealth or try to appear wealthy. I grew up in a suburb with a lot of “new money” and I was very turned off by the attitude of the kids in my high school who felt their parents wealth and the new cars they drove gave them the right to look down on others like me.
My grandparents lived in an upscale “old money” suburb and it always struck me driving through the neighborhood to their house, full of big beautiful older houses, there would more often than not be something like a Olds Vista Cruiser in the driveway, compared to my suburb where new Cadillacs were a common sight in driveways.
The book “Millionaire next door” said the average millionaire in their studies lived in an average neighborhood and drives a pickup. Their neighbors probably never would guess that they are wealthy.
Financial planners and accountants always talk about how many high income clients they end up with who despite their high incomes, have low or sometimes negative net worths.
It is what it is, but still amazes me after decades of observing it, how hung up people are at trying to make others think they are rich and successful, even if it bankrupts them. Stupid!

Around here anyway a lot of people financed their expensive cars by taking out HELOCs and drawing them down. When the housing market took a nosedive, first the cars got taken away, and then the houses.

My dad worked for the state as a teacher for blind and deaf kids, had a low salary, but he drove his stripped 1969 Valiant forever and saved/invested. I'm not as thrifty, but I'm not reckless either.

I dont get caught up in “what others have” at all.

I thought someone might comment that they are worth every penny. Safe, powerful and nice white pearl paint.

Range Rovers. I hear the are way over priced piles but Im guessing people buy them as a status symbol. Like G wagons. When I pass those cars I question their judgement. I would imagine a person of unlimited wealth would have a driver and security vehicles. I hate driving abd get my kids to drive at every opportunity

A lot of these high priced luxury cars are built on the same chassis as other cars that cost half as much. I never was under any understanding that they were any better in quality than the cheapest vehicle that shares the same chassis.

They are built on a suburban chassis and drive train, may have an aluminum block insted of iron or something unimportant like that. Also since it is a caddy they dump all the latest electronic gizmos they can possibly come up with into them, a couple years down the road they use the lessons learned to improve the suburbans but the electronic crap is all failing in the caddy and nobody can get it all working again and if they can it costs a fortune. They are all about status, drive it a few years and when it's outdated ship it on down to the next poor sap while you take a bigger depreciation than the guy who bought a suburban.

And one more thing, I don't care how much money I ever have there is no car worth $1500 month especially after I hand in over $10,000 down and dang sure not after I am promised I will have nothing when I am done forking over all that money for 3 years or whatever the lease is!

I have not been inside the new generation that just launched but based on the older models calling them a gussied up Tahoe sells them short. GM spends some pretty good money on interior and tech upgrades versus the Tahoe/Yukon siblings.

I just read an article that stated the average new generation Escalade is being sold for $102,000.

Is a new Escalade worth it? That is the decision the buyer needs to make and not really for me to decide.

my trusty [not rusty] '99 caravan suits me and my needs just fine, thanks.

MopXs Carrotvan? .. trusty and not rusty

but rumors HAVE IT it’s dusty and musty

Ur up early !

it is DuStY, but NOT musty...........
and i'm up to eat my lunch time TaStY bowl of MeDiCiNe.

Oh my gooooness... lunch, meds, a dump and a nap ?

You should BE BACK ... 5pm ?

I can guarantee as soon as their bank account hit $12,001.00 they went right in and signed on the dotted line. Then, hope to hell their paycheck comes in before the lease payment does. Actually, I'm surprised in the first place the Dooshbags that need to have these things can actually scrape up enough money for the down payment.

But, really, that tells the truth that they can't stroke a hundred thousand dollar check for one these Turds in the first place. That's what separates those who have money and those who don't.

As for it being worth it? Pfft, I'm not even going to waste my time to look at one. I'd have a '59 Dodge Royal, a Super Bird, a '60 Chrysler, or a '71 Hemi Challenger way before having one of those ugly things in the driveway.

Gri💤 ...

There’s a caddy dealership very close....

Those are NICE FANCY vehicles .. but over a 100k ?

Who can afford something like that unless you are an insurance company mal adjuster ?

After 15 years with Mercedes I can tell you there are people who struggle to stay relevant and others who just see them as another car.

The CL550 is targeted at the $600,000 to $2,000,000 income bracket. Many of those folks don't worry too much about vehicle prices. Premium cars are targeted at much higher incomes.

There are plenty of pretenders. When we see a young guy walk in wearing all the fancy clothes and trimmings we're pretty sure he's mortgaged within an inch of his life and can't pay for a nice lunch, much less a premium car.

People lease cars that they CAN'T AFFORD to buy. A co-worker has a Lexus lease on a $60,000.00 car that he told me he could not afford to own. He's not a car guy at all. He told me he rented a Challenger and when asked what engine it had he didn't know. He lives in a new gated community and has to show off to all the other over extended types like him. He thinks he's slick with money and went in for the 29 dollar oil change coupon and came out with $1200 worth of new tires on a car with 12,000 miles.

This, ^^^^^
What other people do or own makes ZERO difference to me . People need to not worry about how others live THERE lives and simply live there own

I live My life to Please ME and me Alone

And yet here he is, commenting about me after in one of his other threads that people commented about him.

nutT .. does the SHOE FIT u on that comment

Some people I have seen have nothing and speak and act as if they do. Some have, by most estimates, everything and behave and carry on like they don't. I prefer the latter. I worked in SD for a summer for my uncle who had a construction business. His dad was the boss of a construction business in SD and CA. I will never forget his dad telling me the keys were in the truck to go get materials. He didn't care his keys were in the ignition of the truck in a mall parking lot. He trusted people. He made his wealth by working hard. Never dressed fancy. The truck he drove was a 76? chevy diesel. He always said "what more does he need?"

Correct. My DD has 280K miles. I could pretty much buy anything I wanted to, but why bother. In the end, its just about getting from point A to point B and I definitely would not be doing that in some overpriced piece of GM garbage.

I have never understood leasing. When I was a kid (the 60's) a friends father owned a company with salesmen. those cars were leased. He also leased a couple for his wife and my friend, a tax dodge I suspect. I notice local dealers only advertise the lease payment, with no mention of the price. I remember reading an article about ten years back, about who bought and who leased a Lincoln Navigator (then about $60,000). About 40% were leased were leased by people whose incomes were less than the cost of the Lincoln, and it was their primary car. Of the 20% who bought, it was their 4th, or 5th car. If you are self employed and can write off the payments, I suppose there is some sense.

I have certainly seen what is mentioned above, people taking equity loans to buy a car. First they lose the car, then the house.

I guess I fail to see the difference between the guy buying the Escalade and the guy buying the latest limited edition Hell cat Challenger, or the the guy that doesn't use his new Cummins Dodge pickup with all the bells and whistles for actual work. Their money, their choices.

I guess its a good thing I don't have to make their payments.

On the other hand, I've just invested about $8,000 on an rebuilding a 49 Dodge truck on a Dakota 4x4 chassis that is going to be my year around daily driver, including the winter snow and salt season. I expect about 5-6 years out of it before I have to start fixing stuff the winter kills. My money, my choice. I'd rather drive this old junk then the new junk. Gene

That's true, but I think the OP's point is that a large number of people driving new cars and SUVs have a huge bank note to be able to afford them.

So in their case, it isn't really "their money", it's the bank's money.

(Cool truck BTW)

Poorboy: on your ride.

Thanks about the truck. The list is getting short, it will probably be licensed in May.

When they signed the papers, they agreed to make the monthly payments. As long as they are making those payments, its their money they are spending. I guess I'm sort of making payments on my truck as well. I started out with a down payment and have been setting aside money every month to move progress along. The difference is there isn't a bank or loan company ever going to come and get my truck, if I "miss" a payment, the progress just slows down.

Thanks. Getting close, it should be licensed sometime in May. I'm ready to start driving it.

The DEMAND for new top end Escalades is crazy. With the chip shortage, they're hard for dealers to get. My daughter is the F&I manager for a small market Buick/Cadillac dealer. They got in a $120k Escalade, and had calls from 3 other dealers before it was through PDI. Had another dealer buy it from them at STICKER, PLUS take two 2020 leftovers (not sure what model) at invoice just to get the Escalade...

Drove with my son yesterday to pick up a 2014 Vette with 14,000 miles. Dealership bought it back from a good customer. My son said it was like a $65,000 car new. Said 2 years ago it may have been worth 35,000. They gave him $47,000 and said they'll probably resell for like $58,000. PS The guy he picked up the Vette from had a newer Ram in the driveway

He said ANYONE wanting a new high end Chevy truck, Escalade or Vette HAS to order and the wait is like 10 months. And this is in Detroit and their dealership is the 2nd largest Vette dealer in the country.

PPS I see Escalades production is as low as Vettes. Like 35,000/year. That probably partially justifies the ridiculous price. I even asked my son why wouldn't someone buy a loaded Denali and save $20k. He said Cadillac in the past couple years has differentiated the Escalades to make them more different than just a high end Tahoe, Denali, Suburban (I don't know the models, I'm not in that market and not a Chevy guy)

Cool old truck poorboy! A local guy to my shop daily drives an all original mint green 68 Dodge truck.