[Outdoorsman]

It's simply that no one can tell whether or not you own the car, just by seeing you drive by in it, or seeing it in your driveway...

The true "equity" in a great number of cars on the road--those financed, or leased, is held by a bank, institution or business....

Remember the old false-fronted buildings in the frontier towns portrayed in numerous westerns...?

The wherewithal of those business was likely much smaller than the storefront indicated...

In other words, some consumers will go to great lengths to project "success" when in actuality they haven't quite "made it"...leasing, even renting, a luxury car for that reason is quite common around the world...