An Experian study says the Lexus RX 350 is the most-purchased luxury vehicle.
Credit agency Experian released data this week about luxury car buying, and I’m a bit surprised by one statistic: only 16% of luxury car buyers pay cash.
It turns out that the majority of luxury vehicle buyers lease their vehicles. 54% lease and 30% get a loan.
While general financial wisdom is that you should buy rather than lease a vehicle, there are plenty of circumstances where this isn’t true. Even taking out a loan can make sense depending on the rate and your alternative use for the cash. Still, the fact that 84% of luxury car buyers lease them or get a loan suggests that many car buyers should probably look at a less expensive car.
Here are other interesting facts from Experian:
- The average loan on a luxury car is $42,876.
- Tesla has the highest average monthly payment of $1,285. (Leases are expensive, too, and consider buying a used one.)
- The average monthly lease payment for a luxury vehicle is $592.
I’m honestly not all that surprised that so many people take out a loan when buying expensive cars. It seems that my generation is less concerned with the money they have and more concerned about the things they have, and they don’t mind taking out loans at all! I hope that in the future, people start only spending the money they have; a nice car is great, but only if you don’t make yourself broke when you buy it!
I wasn’t too surprised when you had mentioned that only 16% of luxury car owners use cash. They are a luxury for a reason and most of them a very high priced. It probably is best that they are bought with a loan or something so that you can make payments on it. They are a car that will last a really long time.
when you can borrow at 2% and your capital is yielding 30%+ passively, you’d have to be the biggest schmuck on the planet to pay cash.