Luxury Vehicles and Happiness 

Just my view but I really admire folk who don’t spend to impress and have a humility about them. Great video Ben.

"Having is not so pleasing a thing as wanting." -- Spock

Lucius Seneca figured this out 2000 years ago. "At last, then, away with all these treacherous goods! They look better to those who hope for them than to those who have attained them. If there were anything substantial in them, they would sooner or later satisfy you; as it is, they merely rouse the drinkers’ thirst. Away with fripperies which only serve for show!"

The exception to this is car enthusiasts, who enjoy the cars not primarily for their quality as a positional good, but for their quality as a collectible.

I am in China, and buying a Luxury Vehicle means something more than a driving experience, which is also an investment. Many or most small business dealers will simply judge your wealth or the company simply on cars. SO, buying a luxury car is like an entrance ticket to a business environment, even it sounds so stupid.

Most people live their lives based on envy. It's not only luxury vehicles. Do we need a 4000sq ft house for a family of four? Great video!!!

It is quite fascinating to watch Ben Felix gradually developing himself from stock market guru to evidence based happiness coach. Great content as always!

WOW!!! The last sentence you said was …. 🤯 I wish I could be as articulate as you so I could help educate my friends around me!!!

I very much enjoy mine. Which is an upraged model of a car I had previously. The ride and comfort is better. Then there is the aspect of going for a “fun drive” don’t have to worry about those who “ don’t want to let you pass” as the power in most of these cars superceede most cars on the road. His is the positive driving experience for me. The negative experience is the maintenance cost. Oil changes are stupid expensive comparatively, fixing a broken xxxx is more than 5x. Insurance is almost 2x. Tires are 2-3x. I will say I did not buy this new and with vehicle depreciation I would never buy new. But it as a dream car for me. I would not change that experience of finally experiencing it but will take greater caution in 10 years when it’s time for a newer vehicle

Always great to get your views on various topics! Hope you can create more videos

Finally finished binging all your videos!

I agree with this video although I think there is a point of diminishing returns In terms of happiness with regards to a vehicles quality. A piece of junk will cause plenty of stress independent of hedonistic adaptation. But a brand new Camry will likely bring about a similar amount of happiness compared to a brand new Cadillac, especially over the long term. I believe vehicles that bring about experiential benefits like motorcycles can certainly be a good investment in terms of happiness. Experiences such as exploring beautiful riding destinations and relaxing Sunday cruises can be hard to quantify, but they certainly don't get old.

I got a Lexus IS250 last year just to flex. Just kidding, I really needed a car because my 2004 Toyota Corolla broke down at 320k miles. A relative of mine had a 2009 Lexus IS250 and I purchased it in full. I think this luxury car that I have now was worth it because it’s still very reliable as it truly is just a Toyota. What an upgrade from my old car as well. This car feels a lot stronger and more powerful. Like driving a tank , but not really… it’s just built very well.

Intresting and insightfull.....

Ben trying to decrease infliation

As a guy who went from a barely functional rust-bucket to a fancy Mazda6, I NEVER take it for granted. So maybe it's the jump from decent car to luxury car that's not so grad. Happiness plateaus and status quos and all that.

Driving 2009 diesel renault and im having a blast

This is the exact information I was in need for.

Succinct summary of the data Felix, great work.

my poorer brother wants to buy a new car cuz he wants the experience of "owning something new." i think this video would apply to him too

Still driving my 2008 RAV4 with 177K miles on it. The tire pressure need topping up every few days & it burns oil, but there's no way in hell I'm getting anything different in this crazy 2022 car market.

what a great channel ☀️

Hi Ben Felix Can you touch on optionsstrategies for retail investors? Such as LEAPS, PMCC, The wheel

Superb content!!!! Can you create a video in effect of interest rate on real estate prices?

Great Video!

너무 좋다♥️

This video is golden

I've owned both luxury cars and regular cars and I will say regular cars are much less stressful. The worst place to be is a mechanic shop getting bullshitted and/or ripped off. A reliable car that minimizes your exposure to needing maintenance and repair is the least stressful.

Subaru leased. Best thing I did.

I like cars and like driving and I do like Luxury vehicles. However you can get older luxury vehicles for pretty cheap prices, which give pretty much the same experience for pretty cheap. NEW cars are a silly money pit that have massive depreciation. Sure older cars can need a little more maintenance, but the new cars are not without issue either. Driving an 80k car for 5k because it's an older luxury vehicle gives all the comfort, power and 95% of the prestige, because most people see the size, marque and quality :D

If I was on a desert island, I wouldn't want a luxury car. I'd want a luxury boat.

If you can buy “luxury” without putting a financial burden on. Then yes! Buy luxury.

Last year, I bought myself a new truck, which is a luxury item for me. I have to say, I love driving it more than my old Honda, more enticed to travel places if I use it, and love getting it washed. For me, it heightens the driving experience. I get the data, but there’s also the side that people just love driving great cars, and respect the engineering marvels they are.

Would a large vehicle, like a Suburban, be considered a "luxury" vehicle? I like mine for the room and the safety but it's also 18 years old.

LOVE IT

Reminds me of Lacan's object of desire

I have a 2022 Mercedes’ Benz GLE 350 and love it.

Going from a ford escape to a BMW X5 last year i can assure you... I do not take my car for granted. I actually enjoy driving now and my wife takes my car more than her own. (Also a luxury vehicle). I agree with this concept for most people. My circumstances are different which puts me in the exception category. The extra 20k I paid for my luxury vehicle is worth the thrill/enjoyment and comfort of the drive for me.

I should buy a bike and bike to work and enjoy the commute. I like eating cheap foods like homemade burritos and pb & j sandwiches. If you can value and enjoy cheep things then saving and investing money becomes easier.

I get it, rationally speaking. But damn there's something about revving my Corvette! Not my daily driver and strictly used for recreation so maybe falls into a different category?

My luxury vehicle is a bike and I enjoy the financial freedom of not owning a car.

I love Lexus cars 🤩

Good content. Good perspective

Ben, i just want you to know, you are awesome!

I own a 2017 Corolla XSE. Moonroof, heated seats, navigation built in. All that I really need and not worried about it getting a dent like I would a luxury car. Plus parts are cheaper and the car will last me.

I drive an Audi S4.... totally worth it!!! Vroom....

I love racing.

Has no one ever heard about "keeping up with the Jones's" . JEEZ ! Buy what you need, not what you want. ( Even if I had tons of money to squander, I could think of better uses for it than a Lambo, etc.).

Why don't you upload any more?

Love this Ben, will share!

Interesting video Ben. However, in the list of the most wealthy you failed to include their actual luxury vehicle… their private jet.

What is the definition of luxury vehicles? For me something above 50k would be luxury especially since i dont need it but i want it. Any new bmw/audi etc would be considered luxury in my view. Going from an old rusty ford with 60hp to my first proper car with 150hp was an amazing feeling and still makes me happy whenever i go for a drive. Its not a very expensive or luxurious car but i do look back at it in the parkinglot and smile. Im certain that a more expensive and nicer car would increase my enjoyment of it. Also considering it would most likely be less prone to breaking down. In general i enjoy driving and if there was a magical car that would look like a lambo to me but an old civic to anyone else it would still increase my enjoyment of it simply because i like looking at it, i dont need it as a status symbol or anything like that. A friends of mine has a 120k € AMG and that doesn't diminish my enjoyment of my car at all, quite the opposite its fun to see him enjoy his car and talk about cars with people that like their own too. I think using a house or a car to improve perception of yourself is a flawed idea in general, ofcourse people that want attention will get some of it but does that actually fullfill you in any way beyond that initial spark? Im proud to say i worked for something have bought like an expensive gaming pc or having a good amount of money saved up for emergency yet i dont feel better for telling people. In fact nobody that hasn't been in my home would know that i keep any valuables. I get more fulfillment from beeing able to say i am happy and healthy than shoving money into people's face to compensate for insecurities

I know some people who own luxury vehicles, they don’t use them for daily commute, but more as a hobby.. they take it for a ride on the weekend, sure it’s a hella expensive hobby, but still

Sound is low!

........waiting........waiting...........

The hard cut at 3:01 while Ben pulls himself together after that take had me rolling

More videos like this please

best car in the world is the company car.

I think this makes sense, with one caveat that I learned from a financially savvy fellow a few years ago - this logic applies to luxury v. economy, but I think an important category is considering safety. Often more “expensive” cars have more safety/security features (with diminishing returns, of course). And for many people, driving is one of the most common, and actuarially unsafe things they do consistently day to day. There’s nothing more important to me than my life and the lives of those I love. There’s no price I can put on that. To that end, purchasing/leasing new vehicles every few years with significantly improved safety outcomes, may be more worth it than driving a beater into the ground and investing the unspent capital. The latter just gets you more money. The former potentially gets you more time with the ones you love.

I had a BMW 330i and while it wasn’t super luxury I enjoyed driving it more then the VW Golf we currently own, however it wasn’t enough to justify the price of it. Cool vid

I think in large part this video is representative of how people drive their cars. Governing out my parents minivan as a kid gave me a similar thrill to surpassing those speeds on my daily commute to work. Important aspect to life, have fun, no matter what you're doing or how you're doing it. You decide how you're going to interpret stimulus.

audio is too low

I'd like to see a video about what kind of ETFs are better kept in a TFSA. I appreciate the value of diversification but what about tax implications of foreign equity? Does buying a Canadian ETF that follows a foreign index like the S&P500 cost me less tax than an American ETF that follows the S&P500? How does that work?

I’ve always had several vehicles. I have my daily commuter (Toyota Prius prime), my weekend car (Tesla Y) and my motorcycles (Harley, triumph, Ducati & Honda). In Ca it’s always traffic everywhere so daily driving sucks, but on weekends when I drive my Tesla or my motorcycles, I love it and I really enjoy the experience.

I drive a 2007 Toyota Corolla and have since barely brought it to the garage other than for regular maintenance. THAT'S the satisfaction I strive for in a car, nothing else.

it'd be kind of hard to run a car on a desert island for an extended period of time

I've owned two cars, my first car that I drove for nearly 12 years (a toyota corolla) and now own a BMW 320i. I would say that the message and study (for me) is only partially true. I consistently enjoy the features of driving a "luxury" car, even looking at it makes me feel satisfied because i think a lot of cars now a a days look like they're made of plastic and the BMW looks like a quality machine. The BMW also has depreciated slower. Though, I also thoroughly enjoyed driving my toyota corolla and it took a lot of convincing for me to sell it and buy another car. I think it's just happy people are happy, and less satisfied people are just that - what you wear, what you drive, where you live is mostly relative.

“Would you still want your luxury vehicle If you lived alone on a desert island” Love that! Been wanting a Tesla but this made me reevaluate that..

Some people are genuinely car enthusiasts. My uncle has a couple of high end sports cars but he's very much into them and will go to car shows etc.

Thank you for the video! As always, you are immaculate in your succinct research-ridden presentation. There's a psychologist/therapist/professor named Kirk Honda (whose channel is called Psychology in Seattle), and he's touched on this topic across several videos, usually tangentially. He's very careful with making sure that what he says aligns with recent literature. All this is to say that your video lines up with what an accomplished psychologist shares! Which is great, but not unexpected -- I'm always impressed by how thorough you are with your research. It's one of the many things that make your content outstanding. Thanks again!

My dream is not a luxury car but a enough land so I can ride go karts on my property. :p My own track would be awesome.

Makes sense on a high level Ben as this falls under the umbrella of buy experiences over material good. But if you are not entrenched in your viewpoint, there is a caveat to this. The Car Enthusiast. When they buy a luxury car say like BMW they also are essentially joining a community. An enthusiast community they meet with and can enable people to become friends with like minded people and even become long term friends.

Excellent work as always. Never cease to amaze me

I have luxury vehicles in video games 😌

Hi ben, can you please make a video on long term stock returns? In other words why do stocks always go up in the long term?

“So I should get a used car?!?” lol impeccable timing with today’s CPI report

Can you do a similar video in the future about 'are bigger homes worth it?' Maybe you find literature with an "optimal" average surface area per person for different households. With my personal thougt that houses in the US are in general way too big (as seen in media, I am Dutch)

Spot on!

I sort of enjoy the idea of maximizing the incongruence between myself and my car. Looking poor but not being it is kind of fun.

I get that some people like it but not for me. I just see cars as something of a burden that you have to maintain. Dream is to live in a country with great public transit or super cheap taxi fares, and never drive again unless I want a weekend rental.

Love it. Here in Hong Kong, it’s a perfect example of trying to keep up with your neighbour to the point where everyone is driving crazy expensive cars. Teslas are now mediocre, it seems. I drive a plain old VW golf proudly. BTW, Ben, your Chinese pronunciation could use some work. ‘Xu’ in Chinese is pronounced like ‘shoe’ - there’s no j sound anywhere.

2:53 hahahaha

There's another channel run by a guy who runs a luxury car rental place and he's full of stories about what happens when people drive luxury cars. Hint: It involves a lot of tire burnouts, a lot of scams, and a lot bad money decisions.

I prefer bicycling and walk.

great video and topic! I think like a lot of other things, getting out of the bottom tier (unreliable, dangerous car) and into the 'common' tier (recently new, reliable car) is the most important distinction. After that, I think being able to afford a car that does what you want provides a good return. Like a truck to haul your work/leisure tools or a van to haul your kids

Hey Ben, i am from Germany. In my Country its on vogue to invest in a GDP weightet Portfolio. Like 30% US 30% Europe 30% Emerging Market and 10% Asia Pazific developed. Is this a good idea?

Last week I was visiting LA, and while exploring the city I ended up walking through very fancy neighborhoods Monte Mar Vista and Cheviot Hills. According to Wikipedia, "Cheviot Hills has long been home to many actors, television personalities, and studio executives." To give some more context, for a bit I walked behind a family who were out to walk their dog, where the father was telling his son about a young guy whom "he hired from Goldman Sachs". That's the type of neighborhood we're talking. Each house must be $5mil minimum. I saw lots of cars parked next to all these amazing houses, and barely any of them were luxury brands. I saw one Porsche, maybe one Mercedes. Most of them were Volvo's, Hondas, Nissan's, mostly SUV's and crossovers. Maybe there was a Lambo or a Ferrari in every closed garage that I couldn't see, but judging by the cars visible from the outside - those people with real wealth do not waste money on luxury cars at all.

Like half of the cars in our lot (pharma company) are luxury vehicles. I do not own one and I'm curious to know whether it is worth it.

My car is an '06 and I fortunately have never had a desire to have a better one. I've always said I'll drive my car into the ground until I can buy a true self driving car. Helps that I rarely have to drive though.

The problem with this video from the outset is failure to define “luxury” which is subject to the extreme.

Ben, if the P/E (price to elitism) ratio is low enough is there value? haha

Doing anything special for your 100th video?

As someone who drives an exotic sports car, I love every second.

Really depends on if you enjoy driving or not. MOST people don’t really enjoy the driving in and of itself. In my case, I volunteer to drive people places bc it’s pleasurable to me. I can get fun out of an economy car, but it’s definitely increasingly more enjoyable the sportier the car. There’s probably a limit to that of course, but I haven’t found it yet. Money is scarce like you said, haha. Fun video anyways.

Going in to this video, the great surprise would be: "Yes!! Totally worth it!"

Hey Ben. I live in one of the few countries in the world that has enforced wage indexation. The government keeps track of inflation essentially, and corporations are legally obligated to raise wages to keep people's purchasing power roughly even. I'm not sure how interesting of a video topic this would be, but if you're dying for ideas I'd love to hear your opinion on it. It is often a hot debate here, on a national level, and I'm not sure what to make of it myself.

A bit unusual topic for Ben, but very well researched regardless. Does a friend/family member of Ben wants to buy a luxury vehicle? lol

This one is pretty obvious, but since it's a new video from the Oracle, I had to watch anyway.

But Ben, what's your personal opinion on cars? I seem to recall your stance on what you drive/own/pay for had changed in the podcasts over the past couple of years? I love my current vehicle and my classic vehicle. I definitely derive joy and happiness from driving both, but if I lived alone on a desert island, no I wouldn't need or want either of them.

lol I was literally deciding whether to buy a Lexus or Hyundai last week, ended up choosing Hyundai, and loved to see your video confirming my choice!