That car thread got me thinking...what's it with getting nice new cars, unless you're a millionaire?

I'd not want to put more than 10-15% of family yearly income towards a new car. 10-year old cars are fine by me, can't see any reason to get anything newer or more expensive. Even the maintenace is much more expensive on new cars.

But some do...I have a colleague with same income as me, who doesn't even have a house, instead he rents a really small flat with his wife...and still they bought like a 30k car???? That must be like half of their yearly income!

That's insane to me...he coulda gotten like years of mortgage payments on a proper house for the same, and still get quite a decent car for like 5k or so...which is what the 30k car will be worth in a few years anyway. Just money thrown down the drain, when you buy a 'newish' car...so why not just buy the cheapest that still offers OK safety, space etc?

You never have to take them to expensive brand maintenance. You never have to worry about dents on them. You never have to wash or wax 'em to keep the paint nice. You don't even have to care if the dog eats the seats, because once you're done with it, the value is zero anyway. Just duct-tape it.

So WHY would anybody want a new/fancy car even if it would mean a significant percentage of their yearly income? Wouldn't it make more sense to buy like a summer house or at bare minimum, a house first, not a car?

Ah, maybe I'm just a miser...