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.