This whole $100k conversation is bonkers. Of course it's luxury, are you guys serious?
Go check out the Ford dealerships. They have a whopping 1 vehicle (Mustang Shelby GT500) over $100k... out of over 100 vehicles.
Go take a look at Mercedes, a luxury brand. 13/39 top $100k. That's not even half.
Big 4 offers zero vehicles over $100k with a whopping 3/225 over $90k.
I know CP is the land of six-figure double-meaters, but suggesting $100k is not a luxury vehicle is completely out of touch. "Is it a luxury when you need it for work?" uh yeah, because you do not need a $100k personal vehicle for work, you just want one... it's a luxury.
I don't know where you did your math but base pricing doesn't count with luxury vehicles as they are strippers with less features than a Corolla. A base car from a German luxury automaker is a bit of a myth. They exist but only special order as dealers won't stock them on lots. You can get to almost $90k in a AMG CLA 45 for example and that's MB's entry level car. I can build a Ford Raptor over $100k and and F-150 Limited to $95k. I know you can build GMC's to over $100k with ease. I don't think anyone argued that a $100k vehicle isn't a luxury. In fact you can argue $70k plus is luxury. Doesn't change the fact that it's pretty easy for an average wage earner to get into a luxury vehicle with a 72 month loan or balloon loans.
Having worked in the car industry for years, I can still get behind this. I've always believed that we should be taxed more on consumption before income. Anybody can find a vehicle to serve their needs for under this price, no problem. I know BC has a 3% luxury tax on personal vehicles over $50k, the HST bumps up to 10%. The loop hole being that commercial vehicles are exempt and 3500/ F-350 Diesels fall into this category.
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Damn and here I thought spending $25 grand on my Journey was a luxury. I am definitely on the wrong board
$25k on a Journey is the most shocking spend I've seen so far
jk
Think of it this way. People who buy Camrys, Escapes, CRVs, RAV4s, Accords, Rangers, Caravans, etc. aren't posting in here. This thread is more of a car enthusiast's thread, with the odd guy popping in for advice on buying a Honda Civic, but that conversation wouldn't last more than a handful of posts. It's not a board thing; it's a thing specific to this thread. Most people out there are driving normal cars at normal prices, just like you.
Even within this thread there are the guys that talk about more affordable cars and there are the guys that talk about the cars worth way north of $100k. I know barely anything about exotic cars because they just don't interest me, so I just kind of scroll past those posts.
Same with the watch thread. Those guys are big time into collecting watches, but probably 90% of the people on this board have a Timex (or equivalent) worth less than $100. If you read the watch thread, you'll think you're weird for not having a collection worth thousands.
Also, there is a lot to be said for just a normal fataing car. If I drive to the mountains and my windshield gets cracked, that's like $1k. Winter tires for my car (staggered wheel set up) were like $2700. That's just the rubber (I ended up getting narrower, non-staggered after-market wheels and tires together for less than $2k). A check engine light could write off my car. All the expensive cars come with uncomfortable compromises, IMO, so you really have to be interested in more than just the transportation aspect of a vehicle to invite - what can be - expensive hassles into your life.
I can almost guarantee your relatively (in car land) inexpensive Journey will cause less grief than a lot of the expensive cars talked about in here. There's a lot of value in that.
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I don't know where you did your math but base pricing doesn't count with luxury vehicles as they are strippers with less features than a Corolla. A base car from a German luxury automaker is a bit of a myth. They exist but only special order as dealers won't stock them on lots. You can get to almost $90k in a AMG CLA 45 for example and that's MB's entry level car. I can build a Ford Raptor over $100k and and F-150 Limited to $95k. I know you can build GMC's to over $100k with ease. I don't think anyone argued that a $100k vehicle isn't a luxury. In fact you can argue $70k plus is luxury. Doesn't change the fact that it's pretty easy for an average wage earner to get into a luxury vehicle with a 72 month loan or balloon loans.
There was no math, it was just what's available from a few dealerships in Calgary right now. I don't think these cars are a myth when there are 26 of them (under or well under $100k) you can drive off just one of the Mercedes lots today.
I would generally disagree that someone with an average wage can pretty easily slide into a $100k vehicle on a 72 month loan. That's a third of their monthly salary... for a car. In a scenario where you have two people making an average wage and splitting the car, that comes out just fine. But if you're a single person driving that kind of vehicle on an average wage and not living with your parents, you're car poor.
I think we mostly agree though, there was just a couple posts that seemed to take issue with $100k being a luxury mark, when it absolutely is. Not to say there's anything wrong with buying a $100k vehicle, but if you're getting in one on a single income you're either wealthy or stupid, and there's no shame in admitting you're wealthy.
$25k on a Journey is the most shocking spend I've seen so far
jk
Think of it this way. People who buy Camrys, Escapes, CRVs, RAV4s, Accords, Rangers, Caravans, etc. aren't posting in here. This thread is more of a car enthusiast's thread, with the odd guy popping in for advice on buying a Honda Civic, but that conversation wouldn't last more than a handful of posts. It's not a board thing; it's a thing specific to this thread. Most people out there are driving normal cars at normal prices, just like you.
Even within this thread there are the guys that talk about more affordable cars and there are the guys that talk about the cars worth way north of $100k. I know barely anything about exotic cars because they just don't interest me, so I just kind of scroll past those posts.
Same with the watch thread. Those guys are big time into collecting watches, but probably 90% of the people on this board have a Timex (or equivalent) worth less than $100. If you read the watch thread, you'll think you're weird for not having a collection worth thousands.
Also, there is a lot to be said for just a normal fataing car. If I drive to the mountains and my windshield gets cracked, that's like $1k. Winter tires for my car (staggered wheel set up) were like $2700. That's just the rubber (I ended up getting narrower, non-staggered after-market wheels and tires together for less than $2k). A check engine light could write off my car. All the expensive cars come with uncomfortable compromises, IMO, so you really have to be interested in more than just the transportation aspect of a vehicle to invite - what can be - expensive hassles into your life.
I can almost guarantee your relatively (in car land) inexpensive Journey will cause less grief than a lot of the expensive cars talked about in here. There's a lot of value in that.
This is so true. I have an M3 but I'm pretty sure my next car will be a Civic or Corolla hatchback. I absolutely don't "need" an M3 and like Sliver said there's a lot of additional costs that often make me question keeping it. I grew up on economical and practical cars and thinking of the money I'd save driving one of those instead makes me question the M3 on an almost daily basis haha.
Can you help diagnose my problem?
2012 Caravan. Came home last week after it sitting outside for 10 days and it didn't start. Battery is new and tested fine. This clicking noise appears under/behind the fuse box on the drivers side (even when key is not in)
Key fob got stuck in ignition. That happened to me a few years ago and had to do with the gear not being/seeing it was in park. I tried that and it still wouldn't start.
I'm hoping/guessing it's the starter?
Can you help diagnose my problem?
2012 Caravan. Came home last week after it sitting outside for 10 days and it didn't start. Battery is new and tested fine. This clicking noise appears under/behind the fuse box on the drivers side (even when key is not in)
Key fob got stuck in ignition. That happened to me a few years ago and had to do with the gear not being/seeing it was in park. I tried that and it still wouldn't start.
I'm hoping/guessing it's the starter?
Kinda sounds like 2 problems, the not starting could be the starter. If you get clicking, that's the relay. Easy way to check, and get it to start is tap the starter with a hammer or screwdriver while someone else tries to start it. If it starts with that, it's the starter.
For the key being stuck, yes, in park, but also if the steering wheel is locked, rock it left and right. That can lock the key in, too. My wife's old Civic had a release button near the shifter you had to insert something into when the shifter got stuck. But I'd try the steering wheel trick.
In general, I agree with luxury consumption taxes, but one issue I see is what about families that have one beater and one luxury vehicle by choice? We have two newer vehicles that combined would be over $100K, but I could definitely could have seen us getting one $10K kid hauler and one over $100K vehicle. Doesn’t make sense to me that we would be taxed differently depending on that choice. Or if we decided we only needed one vehicle and one of us was going to take transit.
Just ask a family who makes $40K + $160K how much they get taxed vs. a family that makes $100K + $100K.
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Has anybody else notice the cost of car batteries go through the roof? Is it just a supply chain issue or has something else gone up a lot, perhaps internal materials?
I may need to replace a few batteries come spring time and I am looking at some prices and it looks to have doubled. Is this accurate? I am talking about regular batteries for Honda Pilot's, Toyota Rav 4's, Honda Civic's etc
Any recommendations to get a wonky car starter looked at?
I bought a used Lexus RX 350 that came with an aftermarket car starter. When I push the button on the fob it flashes the light and locks the doors as it usually does and then nothing. When I tried to start it with the fob sitting in the driver's seat I can hear the solenoid clicking.
Google tells me that this could be related to the hood switch, but I can't see anything under the hood that looks like a switch or a plunger.
We did recently have some body work done from a deer collision and picked the vehicle up this week. It's back at the body shop and they are looking at it, but this isn't their wheelhouse and the tech I was speaking to didn't inspire much confidence.
Any ideas???
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