Am I the ONLY one that thinks $98,000 for a vehicle is for fools only?

[patdem]

How can a vehicle that costs $98,000 be supportive of mechanics, secretaries, salesmen maybe??? if I paid $98,000 for a vehicle...I better NEVER NEED a mechanic!! and the Secretary will NOT be paid more than the prevailing wage regardless of the price of the auto....work for Jaguar...or work for Kia....the pay is the same....so get over that fantasy.

So in actuality the extra $85,000 for the overprice of the vehicle goes to the CEO!

[bicentennial_baby]

1. Let it go

Seriously, can we quit beating a dead horse?

[LynneSin]

4. That horse has been beaten more than my team will beat yours Week #1

In DU's fantasy football league

[bicentennial_baby]

6. LOL

Did ya see my defense?

[LynneSin]

34. your defense can't touch my defense

Have you seen who is on my defense? Sure you've got those idiots from Tampa Bay and a washed up Ray Lewis (I had him last year and I dropped him).

But man, my defense is like a pedigree of excellence with Rosevelt Colvin, Hugh Doughlas, and Julius Pepper on the front line and a back field that includes the best of Philly: Michael Lewis, Bobby Taylor and Troy Vincent (ok, I didn't get Dawkins)

[patdem]

5. Gee a 98,000 dead horse....and you object because?

:shrug:

[Alenne]

2. It is only for fools if you can't afford it.

If I bought a $98000 car I would have to live in it. I would not be able to afford food and I would probably be naked. So for me to buy a car that expensive would be stupid.

If you have enough money to buy a car that expensive than go for it.
If you can live in a million dollar house instead of a $100,000 house than go for it.
It is your money. Enjoy it because when you die you can't take it with you.

[mistertrickster]

14. I have to disagree with that notion . . .

That it's your money and you should be able to do whatever you want with it. So Bill Bennett should be able to gamble away 8 million just because it's "his money?"

Fabulous wealth should create a fabulous opportunity for helping create a better world.

Bill Bennett wouldn't have been happier gambling away 8,000 dollars at the quarter slots and giving the other 7.9 million and change to setting up scholarships for poor students? Filthy stinking rich people couldn't be just as happy with a $50,000 Lexus and a $50,000 grant to wind powered electricity?

I don't want people to live like monks, but at some point it just gets obscene and vulgar. Brad Pitt or Leonard Di Capro or somebody bought their neighbor's 4 million dollar Hollywood hills house so they could TEAR IT DOWN and have a bigger lawn. I know . . . it's his money . . .

[Alenne]

20. We will have to agree to disagree

If Bill Bennett wants to take 8 million of his money and gamble it away what can I do about that. If Brad Pitt wants to buy his neighbor's property to expand his own I really don't care.

[mistertrickster]

27. I'm not saying we should "do" anything about people's spending habits.

I'm not a Communist. But we don't have to buy into the Republican self justification that I only exist to serve myself and everyone else be damned.

We have a responsibility to our society as well as to our world. Strangely, every nation in the world seems to understand this except ours, with its "pursuit of happiness" written in the Declaration of Independence and its paradoxical and wrong-headed insistence that pleasuring the self is the highest good.

[Alenne]

30. Just because they spend their money on whatever they want

does not mean they don't care about other people. But nobody becomes a millionaire to give most of their money away. Bill Bennett may have gambled money away but he may have given some away to charity. Their money their choice.

[Old and In the Way]

51. And isn't that how we do differentiate ourselves?

You can take 2 people both with the same incomes, but 1 is a Democrat and 1 is a Republican.

* I suspect the Democrat doesn't whine about paying his fair share of taxes.
* He's probably more engaged with the community and civic minded.
* Less paranoid and fearful of his neighbors.
* Thinks there is more to life than making money.

So, I don't really look at income as a good yardstick for defining the individual, although there are probably more Republicans as you move out on the income brackets.

[patdem]

23. When Bill Bennett makes his money off of telling us NOT to gamble

seems to me he is hedging his bets....so he can have a better chance to win in Los Vegas...even though he lost the 'Holier than Thou' money..big time!

[Booberdawg]

3. Give it a rest already!

:eyes:

[patdem]

9. You know..I do not object to rich people...but I do object when they claim

lies...like...if I buy a 98,000 car I am contributing to the country....NO....you are contributing to the company that manufactured the car...and convinced you it is worth $98,000. It does not support mechanics or secretaries...that is a lie!!!! It supports the salesman...and the company that created the car...get over it fool!

[Dookus]

7. Seriously,

Pat... let's move on.

[brokensymmetry]

8. Not really.

You have issues of the cost of materials - higher quality, closer tolerances, more "stuff".

The paint may have more coats, for example - meaning more hours of labor. Parts may be hand fitted - again, more labor.

[patdem]

11. Honey...there is no engineering that can account for $98,000 for the

cost of a car...get over that fantasy!!!

[FlashHarry]

15. Tell that to the guy who hand-beats aluminium panels

at the Aston Martin factory.

[patdem]

19. Is that an American job??? cause any hand job...is not doable in the USA

from have understood....too expensive?

[FlashHarry]

33. Huh?

You're not making any sense.

(BTW, I think that plenty of handjobs are 'doable' in the USA. Hell, I had one last week!)

[patdem]

21. Aston Martin....not the JAG that costs $98,000????

and what engineering has caused that price?

[FlashHarry]

26. Oh, I don't know. Let's see...

Hand-stitched leather. Wool carpeting. Walnut trim. And that's just for starters. Plus, you're paying for the NAME. It's a status symbol. Wait a few years, the person in question can pick one up for $25,000. Hell, you can buy a used Rolls-Royce for under $20k now.

For that kind of bread, though, I'd go for a Maserati Cambiocorsa.

[CanuckAmok]

28. Of course there's serious markup, but also...

the cost of shipping the vehicle (they're completely assembled before they are shipped to North America, unlike some other luxury brands, like Lexus and BMW).

The cost of subsidising inspections and crash tests in a new market

The cost of a 100% Union workforce (no outsourcing at Jaguar, and even the office staff are Union).

etc, etc, etc

Plus, there's the cost of engineering, and design (car designers are paid what the market will bear, and if there's a proven designer who is going to make a new flagship which will cause a stir in the automotive press, he's worth his weight in gold).

Yes, a huge percentage of the markup is based on the 'prestige' of the marque, but the costs of building sich a vehicle are far higher than building, say, a Camry.

If I had the money, and felt comfortable with the way I was planning on spending it, I sure would. It's all about what one's priorities are. Keeping fit is a selfish act, but nobody begrudges anyone the $30,000 they'll spend on a gym membership over a lifetime.

[Old and In the Way]

40. Most conceivable.

Mass produced cars have fixed overhead (manufacturing plant) and variable overhead(sales/marketing/engineering/tooling etc) spread across a high volume of cars. When your volume is a few thousand or a few hundred, those overhead/variable costs a spread over a lot fewer units...hence, a much higher price.

Now would I spend $98,000 on a car? Hell no. If I had it, I'd probably spend it on something else that would piss someone off.

And really, do we want to all drive the same car? Technology wouldn't change a whole lot if there was only a single choice in the market place. Those few designers who can get premium prices adapt new technology that eventually can be designed into mass production cars in the future. Things like airbags, collapsible steering wheels, air conditioning, etc.

Really, at what point (and who gets to decide) when the line is reached that the cost is too much?

Isn't it really a function of what you can afford? For Bill Gates to buy a $98,000 car would impact his wallet less than me spending $300.00 to buy a bike.

[patdem]

42. I agree....when the floods of 2000 happened..and Gates gave

what about a million to the state most effected...good for him...and when I calculated his net worth vs mine...I would need to give $5.20 to give based on my net worth! So it was not generous...but it was alot.

[molly]

10. It is none of your business

if I spent 5,000 for a vehicle - why would you care?

DU has been taken over by judgemental people who demean anyone - especially those that do not adhere to their "democratic" agenda.

Why would you beat up the most important advocate we have here simply because he took someone that meant the world to him out to dinner and spent a lot of money? He scrimped and saved and shared with DU because it was IMPORTANT to him. What the fuck is the matter with you people?

on edit - come at me! This IS or WAS the land of the free - this is NOT Russia or Cuba or anywhere else - get my drift?

[FlashHarry]

12. Yes. N/T

[patdem]

16. WillPitt did NOT purchase a car for $98,000 dollars...so ignore this post

This is not about a $600.00 dinner..it is about a $98,000 car? but really everyone has the right ot deo whatever they want ...whenever they want...cause they are rich....too bad for the rest of us!

[buddhamama]

22. someone made it an issue

but posting what they paid for their car.

every single one of us here is judgemental. that is a fact.

"the most important advocate..." example of judgemental. while i respect Mr.Pitt's work, he is just one in the sea of millions.
we all do our 'thing' and deserve respect for whatever it is we do.


you're free to act however you choose and others are free to judge you by *their* standards. no different than how you have *judged* others.

to be frank, i don't have much respect for you.

[molly]

25. If I were poor and destitute would you have respect?

bigotry goes to both ends of the spectrum. If you became a success tomorrow by working your ass off, would you give your momey away? Or, would you do what you could with your success to help others?

[patdem]

32. I moved to the Outter Banks of NC...and became a big fish in a small pond

I worked in the biggest construction company but understood that EGO was ruining the company. My car was banged up in Norfolk by a piano truck on Xmas Eve...and I could have sued their asses off,.....but I considered my little banged up car as my EGO STOPPER=I called it my 'frump mobile'....because EGO on the Outter Banks of NC was a real comodity...and I decided at that time that EGO was really the MOST EXPENSIVE COMODITY on earth...that was even before bush* was president...

People asked me 'why don't you build a house while you are in control of the accounting of this company?'....In fact they were asking me why don't you steal from the company while you have a chance? The employees of this company were the most corrupt people I have ever met..and I attempted to tell the owner, but he was so enamored by the people he had working for him...I could do nothing!!!

There are many people that make money on others ignorance....and or desire to work with the 'big boys'!

[Old and In the Way]

46. Sorry, but I lost you in this thread.....

I haven't a clue as to your point.

People really asked you why you didn't build a house while you were in control of the accounting of your company? Pretty strange people.

I agree with Molly about Will Pitt's post. 600 Beans is more than I'd shell out for a date, but I could. I've picked up bigger bar bills, though. Good for Will, he sounds like a hopeless romantic, we could use more people like that, I think.

As far as someone posting that he/she just spent $98K for a car, I think it's funny. I'd love to own BMW Z3 2.8....and if I buy it someday, the last place I'd post about it is on DU....I wouldn't post it because it is frankly rather in poor form to go bragging about how much one pays for something, but to each his own, I guess.

[Kellanved]

13. stop it

For me you're destroying the Lounge. Let it go.

No offense :hi:

[patdem]

35. Honey.if I can destroy the lounge...can I also destroy LBN and GD?

gee I love the power you have availed to me! Heck you think I should run for president...since I am so all powerful?

[Kellanved]

39. for me: your power is over my perception of the Lounge

Not over the Forum.

[Twillig]

17. No

If I could afford a Ferrari and all the expense that goes with it, I'd buy one.

Why not go first class? Same plane, same fuel.

Wealthy people pissing their money away DOES trickle down. Nobody likes a miser.

Of course making an ill-advised post about it in these ghastly economic times is tres gauche.


Broadcast News:
William Hurt asks, "What do you do when your life exceeds your wildest dreams?" Albert Brooks replies, "You keep it to yourself."

[mistertrickster]

18. Sorry, double posting again

Got a cranky connection at my end today . . .

[Twillig]

I thought that was Steve Jobs who did that.

Bought his neighbors house and had it torn down.

I see your point though.

But, c'mon. Bill Bennett's money is ill-gotten goods. Christ, even (shudder) LimpBaugh earns some money as he keeps several million morans giddy every workday. Bennett got his money I don't know how. Being high-falutin 'morals' bitch boy for the wingnuts, I'd say.

















I'm beered up. Apologies all 'round if necessary

[Old and In the Way]

47. The best thing about Bennet pissing away the millions, gambling....

is was the stupid idiots that bought his con job in the 1st place. I laughed when I read about his being busted for his closet gambling vice, but I'm sure that there were many other people who realized that it was there $39.95 that was financing his cranks on the slots....and that must have pissed those people off!

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

24. One of my cloesest friends is a race car driver. He owns 4 porches,

2 Ferrari's, 3 BMW's and various assorted auto's. He pays mechanics, buys premium tires which benefits the tire mfr. He regularly services the cars.

The guy who details his cars makes roughly 1000 per month just off of him alone as a client and can detail all of his cars in 1 days. Plus wash them once a week

He owns a large property in Laguna Beach and another up in the mountains. He has 2 housekeepers that come twice a week to each property and pays them $140 per visit.

He pays his gardener (property is approx 1 acre) $3000 per month to come 3 times per week.

His pool maintenance person comes twice a week but makes several hundred dollars per month.


I just pointed out how one wealthy guy keeps 5 people in business for themselves.

[jafap]

36. does he need anyone to tutor his kids in calculus?

:wink:
I used to live near a town where there were hundreds of fairly good paying jobs at a factory which made Winnebagos too, but that don't make a Winnebago purchase the right thing to do. There is another factory in this country where they make Trek bicycles, so you could buy 500 of them instead of a Winnebago. Unfortunately I am not in a position to creat jobs so I have to take care of my own 3/4 acre by myself, and if somebody paid me $140 a week, I would probably clean my own house too.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

43. What's wrong with a winnebego purchase..the people who build them need

to eat. Again, I think some people's idea of extravagance is one iota more than what they would do.

[patdem]

37. This is a race car driver vs a driver on the public streets?

And your point is?

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

44. My point is you claim that purchasing an expensive car doesn't provide

wealth for anyone else....ask my mechanic..not only did my car create wealth for him, but after he did a good job...so did all the people I sent him.

BTW, most of the auto mfr jobs in the US are UNION even for high ticket cars so one is creating a good lifestyle for the worker no matter the price.

Pushing a shopping cart, on the other hand, doesn't stimulate the economy a bit...but it sounds to me like some on DU think that is the purest form of existance.

[patdem]

48. Only...this car was manufactured in another country...and your mechanic

is NOT getting rich on 98,000 vehicles.....if so....they are grossly over priced...if they need a mechanic at all ever !!!

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

49. One isn't payng for a car that never need maintenance

One is paying for a car that will not need maintenance when it is supposed to be working ( as in breaking down) One is paying for features that don't come on other autos and as far as protectionism is concerned...if one doesn't purchase from other countries, why would they purchase from us?

I'm less concerned about a car bult elsewhere than a bomb built here and sold elsewhere but that's just me.

BTW, Jaguar is owned by Ford.

[KamaAina]

29. Oh, come on, $98,000 for a vehicle is perfectly reasonable...

...if it's an airplane. Or a spacecraft.

:-)

[tsipple]

31. Depends on the Vehicle

There are only a couple new production airplanes you can buy for $98,000. (The two seat AMD Alarus is one, if you get it in its most basic configuration and negotiate well.) Buses cost a lot. (The typical city bus costs more than $98,000.)

[Skittles]

38. I dunno

I'm sure it's quite popular with men who have small penises.

[Blue_Chill]

41. get over it

The guy had lots of money to spend and spent it, who cares.

[patdem]

45. Blue Chill..you got a cross....and a message

if you are rich...fu** the poor...and you got a cross?

[Blue_Chill]

50. When did I say fuck the poor?

Buying a expensive car does not mean fuck the poor. From what I read in that thread that guy did a lot to help people.

Besides 'free will' is important, we all live our lives how we see fit. I'm not going to pass judgment on someone because they pruchased a Jag.

I see where you are coming from and what you are saying but seriously there are more important things then choice of vehicle. How about finding out what the person does to help others, how much they donate to charity, things of that nature.

[latebloomer]

52. OY VEY!!

Enough Already!