Why are there so many BMW/Audi/Mercedes in my area?

high income area

TAA wrote:

Tommy34563577 wrote:

Who in the world can responsibly afford a 40-60k car that has sky high repair costs unless they are making like 200k or more?

They can't. Welcome to America!

"Public servants" in the DC area do make that much... Welcome to America indeed

Tommy34563577 wrote:

I live in the DMV area and everywhere I go it's German car after German car. Are there really that many wealthy people here who can afford these things?

Who in the world can responsibly afford a 40-60k car that has sky high repair costs unless they are making like 200k or more?

I'm a single guy making a little over 100 and I drive a japanese car. I don't get the appeal of German at all. You aren't a special snowflake for owning one.

3 series and A4s and C-class aren't expensive. Entry level lux cars. Cost less than a loaded F-150.

I'm surprised that someone who lives in one of the 3-4 wealthiest parts of the country is surprised by this. Middle class people there are wealthy anywhere else.

Government workers drive German cars because they are Nazis.

Miss South Carolina 2007 wrote:

BMWs are great cars. I have an old z3 and I fix it myself

Also a 4wd 3 series. I do not earn six figures and I'm able to fix myself

True BMWs are great cars, Mercs are alright to look at but are ridiculous to fix. Audis are for fake people, Jags are now way cooler and so are some Japanese models.

For costs those Japs are a tough match.

Tommy34563577 wrote:

I live in the DMV area and everywhere I go it's German car after German car. Are there really that many wealthy people here who can afford these things?

Who in the world can responsibly afford a 40-60k car that has sky high repair costs unless they are making like 200k or more?

I'm a single guy making a little over 100 and I drive a japanese car. I don't get the appeal of German at all. You aren't a special snowflake for owning one.

Be glad you don't live in Australia where cars cost 3x more than the USA

Tommy, with the rise of BMW/Audi/Mercedes, the cost of ownership has come down tremendously since there is such demand.

For example, I'm averaging about $70 an oil change/check-up every 3-5000 miles at my dealership. I have a 2015 BMW 428ix Gran Coupe and live in the DMV. My biggest cost has been tires, which were $1200.

The real question is why do you care so much that other people decide to buy entry level luxury German cars. People will buy what they want regardless of your opinion.

I lived near Great Falls side of DMV for a year. Seriously, the amount of Mercs, BMWs, and Audis is crazy. Combine that with your $500k house minimum. But I suppose it is all about keeping up with the Joneses. There are the people that can actually afford that (private contractors for gov't or higher up civil servants), and then those that get the same car because they feel like they have to.

It's all a status symbol. Even though most base model full pickups cost more than entry level luxury sedans/coupes.

Yes, there are a lot of them in the DMV area.

You don;'t really stand out if you have one. But they are apparently fun to drive so that is a good enough to have one over a boring Japanese car.

And leasing one means you don't deal with many repair costs.

Subway Surfers Addiction wrote:

Mercs are alright to look at but are ridiculous to fix. Audis are for fake people, Jags are now way cooler

You are clueless.

Just get a Telsa. Way cooler looking, faster, semi-autonomous, futuristic, better for the environment.

RedBloodSells wrote:

Just get a Telsa. Way cooler looking, faster, semi-autonomous, futuristic, better for the environment.

Except you can't do a 140+mile road trip. And that's if you're going 55mph with the ac off.

Tesla's are not as refined as the German sedans.

They are not better for the envirmonemt. It was 5,000 pounds? And how will they dispose of that battery once it can't hold a charge? Also because the production is so small scale compared to a ....3 series or E class the individual carbon foot print per car during the manufacturing phase will be much higher for the tesla.

For one, Cadillac has all but disappeared as a popular luxury car maker in the US compared to the Euro brands. It used to be that the Cadillac was the go to brand for Americans wanting to show off their $. Mercedes Benz was a distance second. Audi and BMW were more for Road and Track magazine types and had a pretty small market share. And the Euro auto makers were not very serious about making US vehicles because they did not like having to deal with US emissions standards and catalytic converters. So, Euro brands were not very reliable because they were not really making vehicles for the US market with the same care as the Euro market.

After Cadillac's decline, the Euro auto makers realized that they could really make money in the US and finally started embracing designs that worked well with required US emissions equipment. Reliability went way up. Entry level models (BMW 3 series, MB C series, etc) expanded popularity. SUVs expanded on the popularity. Now, Euro models are the go to brand for luxury vehicles in the US.

Thanks to very low interest rates, most smart people who have a lot of money will lease luxury vehicles instead of owning. This has translated into a very steady stream of very well cared for used vehicles landing on the market. Those vehicles are able to last much longer than they did in the 70s and 80s. Many are still marketable after 6-8 years on the road and close to 100k miles. So, anyone who has a middle class income can buy a Euro luxury vehicle for the price of a new well equipped Camry or Honda Accord. Younger singles think that driving a Euro luxury vehicle is a prerequisite to dating success. People in sales or any field where you have a lot of customer/client contact want to look like they are doing well to inspire confidence in their customer/clients. And then a lot of people come from families where their parents had a lot of money and always drove Euro cars. That can also be a big factor.

Of course, it is not money well spent. As good as the Euro cars are, they are still subject to the laws of thermodynamics and can suffer major failures at any moment once they hit 100k+ miles and generally are very buggy due to the nature of high performance engines, meaning lots of trips for service. For the same price, most everyone can afford a new Japanese car and not have a single repair bill for five years.

So I was in the car market this spring. I'm in my mid 30's, ready for an upgrade. Typical white collar professional in a two income house. So for 50k I could get a 2014 BMW 5 series that'll go 0-60 in 4 seconds and still have room for a 3 year old and a new born. And it comes with a warranty that'll have me covered to 100k miles. Or, I could have gone with a loaded out brand new Camry for 10 grand less. Obviously that's a better financial decision, but why not love what you drive? It's been a fantastic purchase. And unless my financial situation changes dramatically, I'll make the same decision in 4 years.