[MoBattah]

Thank you. What you describe is exactly what I've noticed after delving into the car world via rentals.

If you're buying a sedan -- Toyota/Honda/Kia.

If you own a BMW/Audi/Benz, you're not wealthy and you're just signalling to other non-wealthy individuals. It's interesting because most of the BMW/Audi/Benz look terrible and are way cheaper than most expect yet still a terrible, arrogant waste of capital.

Only a few brands don't match this. Tesla and Range Rover. The former for obvious reasons. The latter because no comparable high-end SUV exists.

If you bought a Ford/Chevy, you're asking for reliability issues.

[compiler-guy]

"If you own a BMW/Audi/Benz, you're not wealthy and you're just signalling to other non-wealthy individuals."

Err, the median income of a 2017 Mercedes-Benz E-class buyer was nearly $200,000 [1]. That qualifies as pretty high income. The numbers are similar for BMW and Audi.

You can argue that they aren't "wealthy" (as this isn't a measure of net worth), but people with high incomes are more likely to be wealthy than people without. Someone making $200K a year certainly isn't the stereotypical person "faking being rich" you portray them as here.

"Look terrible and are way cheaper": well, "look terrible" is all about personal taste. If it doesn't float your boat, then fine, but it apparently floats enough boats that the companies sell a lot of them.

"Way cheaper" is almost objectively false. Most reviewers like the cabins of the luxury brands far more than they like the cabins of the non luxury. You may think they aren't worth the extra dollars, but when someone is wealthy, the marginal value of those extra dollars is lower.

[1] https://www.jdpower.com/cars/expert-reviews/powersteering-20...

[MoBattah]

$200k for a household is not high income by any measure. That sentence explains your entire perspective in your comment.

E-Class = Poor people

If you consider these cars expensive, that’s your problem.

[compiler-guy]

$200k in annual income is nearly four times the US median income. Sure, it's not "ultra-rich", but it the 94% percentile.

Don't know how what you consider "high income", but if "more than 94% of the population of one of the richest countries in the world" doesn't qualify, then there is basically no one who does.

[sk5t]

If you want to know what the self-driving truly wealthy drive, in the USA it's mostly Jeeps, Chevy Tahoes, and the like. Sometimes a Land Cruiser or an old Benz, preferably a wagon. Standing out in a fancy vehicle like a lottery-winning rube isn't it.

[sjg007]

Ford and Chevy are pretty reliable. BMWs are fun to drive. Porsches are a step above BMW in terms of fun factor.