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by compiler-guy 2762 days ago
"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...

1 comments

$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.

$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.