dyhppy

i'm not that old, but when i was growing up, not that many people had nice expensive cars. but driving around socal is like a auto show in motion. besides the 10 exotics/day that pass by, g35 with 19" wheels, bmw everything, benz/audi up the wazzo, not to mention the expenisve suvs rolling. has our society shifted to emphasize car status or am i just imagining? in addition, how do so many people have so much money to shell out after housing, etc?

i'd like to hear your thoughts.

**Jay-V**

People would rather live in a 2 bedroom apartment with a family of 10 but have a pimped out Benz S Class parked outside Priorities have definitely changed.

I bought my house 1st before buying a toy like the S.

Kel

COme drive by my neighborhood. You'll see Escalades and the like parked outside ghetto houses with go knows howmany people living inside.

**Jay-V**

I just don't get it. Oh well, to each their own.

slasherx

you live near diamond bar then or the LBC?

khuezee

its called LEASES. i believe 40% of high end cars are leases. the others are probably financed over 5 years. SuperCars or exotics can have up to a 12 yr payment plan. very few people have the ability to buy a car with straight cash, while some choose not too, based on the time value of money.

So cal is the car capital of the world though. ive travelled to many places throughout the US and I dont see this phenomenon anywhere.

i dont know why people do it either. i love going to bed at night knowing that all i have to worry about is rent, food, and boozin on the weekend. no cc debt, car payments, or child support.

alejo

simple, is because anyone who owned a house in LA before 2001 made enough equity to easily shell out upwards of $100K without hurting their monthly budgets.

dyhppy

maybe im too stupid to understand that.

equity is only worth numbers on paper. you can barrow off it, but still have to pay a big monthly payment. from what i understand, even a leased m3, 0 down, 5 yrs, is 1000 a month. that means anything more would be like 1500 a month, even if a bank will approve a lease plan on your equity.

if you said that someone bought a house early, sold it, moved to a really cheap place, then the money is apparent. please explain.

fshwcrs

they refi, get cash out and buy a car. the equity they cash out is spread out over a long period of time so the payments are small. think of it as a 30yr car loan

alejo

you buy the car with your equity so you're actually paying for it OVER 30 YEARS, the change in monthly payments through your refinanced mortgage is only a few hundred bucks.

believe me, it got me an S


btw, not very responsible in my part but that's another question