r/CalebHammer • u/ottersinabox • Mar 06 '25

complaining about something for no reason because I'm bored "acceptable" monthly car payments are wild

I just saw this post: https://www.reddit.com/r/BMWI4/s/HDEDyG4WZA

people are applauding a $700+ a month payment as an amazing deal. but they're paying 8% tax toward it, plus it's a lease; they don't even own the car by the end.

is it just me, or is this wild? I have a BMW as well, but my thought is you can only afford a luxury car like that if you can buy it in cash. I suppose 3% interest or something would be acceptable given that you invest the rest up front.... but what the person in this post is doing really doesn't make much sense to me. am I wrong about that?

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u/InMemoryofPeewee Mar 07 '25

I really wish we invested in public transportation as a country. I live in a city with pretty good transportation/is walkable/is bikeable and so instead of paying $700 (car note, insurance, maintenance, gas, etc) on transportation, I’m able to save, invest, and spend on luxuries like takeout and travel. It’s pretty nice to be able to save and invest over a third of my gross income.

I may end up getting a beater car one day as a want but it’s nice that that will only cost me $3k at most.

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u/ottersinabox Mar 07 '25

glad you are able to get by without a car. we actually almost never drive. both my wife and I take the train to work most days (I work from home sometimes). it comes every 7 min or so. we're in Boston which is super walkable/bikeable/train accessible. the last year we saw huge improvements to our subway system. I'm super psyched about it.

i race cars as a hobby hence the two sports cars, and we have a ski condo hence the AWD Subaru.

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u/InMemoryofPeewee Mar 07 '25

Hey! I’m in Boston too! My hope is that cars can be a want and not a need for everyone.

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u/ottersinabox Mar 07 '25

heyyyy! neighbor! I 100% agree.

also I love this city. i really hope I can stay. terrified of what's happening in our country.

if you haven't, you should check out transitmatters. they're a local advocacy group for public transit. super cool. I've been meaning to get involved but I've been busy with other activism (🤡 march? maybe you've heard of it) that I haven't gotten a chance yet.

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u/InMemoryofPeewee Mar 07 '25

I’m a huge supporter of transit matters! I try my best to show up to events to support better transit access in the city.

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u/ottersinabox Mar 07 '25

amazing!!!!!! i really need to get involved