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Some thing to think about is if a person works for a living, more then likely you are confusing the wealthy with people that are high earners. Real wealthy people don't work for anyone, they live off of investments or they own their own companies.
I know people that make over a million a year in earned income, but I don't consider them wealthy. They spend everything they make on houses and cars and have nothing beyond that. If they lost their job they would be in trouble. A wealthy person is self sufficient and doesn't work. Of these people, I don't know any one that drives newer cars.
I haven't worked in 10 years, but when I did work, most of the other people I worked with lived in McMansions, drove $60,000 suv's and were always going on vacations. When the business downsized and some of these people lost their jobs, they also filed bankruptcy lost their cars and boats and a few were divorced. These people were never wealthy!!
Ehh...I also have to digress with this statement. Even some multi-BILLIONAIRES still WORK (Donald Trump, Warren Buffett, Steve Jobs until he passed, etc).
Very few high net-worth individuals simply quit working because they have reached a certain level where "work" is no longer necessary of them. Many times these people are Type A personalities that need to be in charge, that enjoy their job, want to grow their company, etc. What the hell would someone the age of Micheal Dell do by retiring? Traveling around the world would be fun for a year or so but after a point, you need a challenge, you need something to occupy your time and interests. Warren Buffett still goes to the office everyday even though he is well past the average retirement age; he ENJOYS what he does like many other people who own companies or businesses.
I think you're confusing people who make high-dollar salaries and live an affluent lifestyle (think Beverly Hills plastic surgeons) versus those who are captains of industry or heads of businesses/organizations that enjoy their job but no longer NEED to work for financial reasons.
My dad farmed for over 40 years and he was well into his 60's before he hung his hat up even though financially he could've retired much earlier. He needed something to do and he hired out quite a bit of the hard, physical labor when he got older but still was up at 5 a.m. every morning and out the door by 6 a.m.
I think it's impossible to point a finger exclusively at what "regular" wealthy people drive because their is NO set standard. Some drive F-150's, some drive Ferrari's, and others drive anything from a Buick to a Bentley. It's impossible to judge someone simply by their vehicle or choice of living quarters.
Subaru and Volvo are safe conservative vehicles. I don't see how they are "ostentatious" at all. In fact, the used Subaru I picked up was more affordable than the Toyota and Honda cars I was looking at. Saab is now discontinued, newer Volvos have become expensive to repair, so that leaves Subaru as the winner based on the three you mentioned.
Geely should cheapen up Volvo's parts some, now that they own them. Subaru may be conservative, but I don't know about not being "ostentatious," not when every turbo motor has got either a hood scoop or some other special bodywork. it's interesting how Subaru caters to two almost polar opposites: their standard models cater to green, safe, conservative quiet sorts. Put an "X" in the name or trim, and a turbo under the hood, and all of a sudden it's Mr Hyde, fast, racer, HP nut, performance maven, and a really fun drive.
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Originally Posted by Merc63
You obviously don't know many of the Microsoft upper end people. Ever seen Gates' garage? How about Neil Konzons? Bruce Levin? Ever been to the area where Gates has his biggest house? It's almost typical for the area, and the cars there are insane. A friend of mine is crew chief for a Porsche racing team out of Seattle, and the people we know over there that have incredible cars is a long list, and none of them are middle class. It isn't about flaunting wealth, but what you're into and as car guys, these wealthy peopel have seriously expensive car collections.
Yeah but are we talking about collections or daily drivers? When someone collects, especially like in those photos, they're almost NEVER driven. It's more like a museum, cars behind glass or something, just a display.
Yeah but are we talking about collections or daily drivers? When someone collects, especially like in those photos, they're almost NEVER driven. It's more like a museum, cars behind glass or something, just a display.
Depends on the collection. Every one of those cars in Ralph Lauren's collection is kept in driver state as he drives them on a regular basis, like Leno's collection. That's why there's a picture of them in the driveway in front of the garage as well as in the display.
The main point is rich people don't just drive cheap cars as a means to stay rich or to "not look rich" as some here are claiming. Rich car guys have expensive toys. And drive nice stuff daily, or at least regularly. So you can't just make blanket statments about what the rich do or don't drive. It's as varied as teh rest of us, but with a much higher upper end. And a lot of these cars are ONLY owned by the wealthy as they are out of the reach of even the upper middle class. Upper middle class does not drive Veyrons. Upper middle class does not drive classic Ferraris. Upper middle class does not have collections of exotics.
Not allrich peopel have these cars, either. If they aren't into cars, they might indeed only have cheap Toyotas and pickups. But that's not necessarily because they are frugal, either, just that they aren't into cars as much as others who are.
The well-heeled folks that I personally know seem to have switched from MB to Audi and BMW.
The athletes around me are the ones still driving MB and showing off with the Bentleys and Lambos, etc.
A lot of folks I know have 911s, but as a second or third car.
I am in NC, so a lot of folks have Jeeps they keep at a mountain or beach house. I have a Wrangler at my mountain house that stays there year round, but I am definitely not mega wealthy!!! It was the car I bought for my son while he was in college and I just hated letting it go.
A lot of women I know drive Porsche Cayennes or BMW X5s. They used to drive MB SUVs but they seemed to go out of fashion in the last few years.
Hardly see a Lexus anymore and not sure why. They used to be very popular in this region.
Was just there last week (Lake Placid) and there's no shortage of luxury vehicles there as well. Range Rovers, Mercedes, BMWs...no super sports cars, but there was also 2 feet of snow on the ground.
LOL, nice try... where do you think they came from? I backpack in ADK often enough to be annoyed by the preponderance of clueless NYC'ers supersaturating all those little towns. I'm just grateful they don't, for the most part, make there way into the true peace and quiet of that region.
One family has range rover, Lexus suv, and Mercedes Benz SL.
Another family has Maserati and Lexus suv.
Hmm I can't really tell with big houses because when I drive by they don't show the cars but some of the ones I saw was Lexus suv, Toyota pirus, 2 Mercedes Benz e class station wagon, Mercedes Benz e class sedan, bmw 5 series, an 1990 something c class.
Around here the rich drive Bentleys, Rolls Royce, Ferrari, Porsche, BMW, MB, Classic cars, or what ever they want to drive.
I see middle class as someone that has a net worth of up to $10million. Individuals that have a net worth over the $10million mark are considered rich. I do know one guy that has a $200million company and he drives a Range Rover. I know another guy that owns a $350million company and he drives cars from a collection. Oprah is driven in a Subburban around here. She is worth a couple Billion.
I see middle class as someone that has a net worth of up to $10million.
Seriously?
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Range Rovers, Mercedes, BMWs...no super sports cars, but there was also 2 feet of snow on the ground. 
