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You Crashed a $3M Bugatti. Now What?

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Re: You Crashed a $3M Bugatti. Now What?

#51

Post by mbrameld »

m463 wrote: post #29
myself248 wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If I could afford either a jet or a Bugatti, there isn't even a question in my mind. Not a moment's hesitation. Jet, jet, jet, jet, and more jet. Heck, even if I could afford both, I think I'd just buy two jets. You know, for when one's in the shop.

Would you be able to fly your own jet? Because you would be able to drive your own bugatti, immediately. No jet license, jet physical, jet training, jet regulation.

I think most people require a license and training to drive a car and there are definitely regulations. A PPL (there's no such thing as a jet license in the US, at least) can be knocked out in a month if you're dedicated.

Re: You Crashed a $3M Bugatti. Now What?

#52

Post by thephyber »

HeavenFox wrote: post #50
sekasi wrote: post #9

To (most) people commenting and reading this, the question 'why would you pay that much money for a car' is just about context. To much of non-first world countries, buying an iPhone Pro Max would evoke the same question. That amount of money symbolises food for a long period of time. Unfortunately your context shifts out a lot. It becomes normalised to buy an iPhone. It becomes normalised to pay a lot of money to bu…

Also, note that unlike your regular Honda and Toyota, for many limited-production supercars, their value actually go up over time. So you could argue the 2M car is a better deal than your average family sedan. Of course, these cars cost a fortune to insure and maintain, and they are absolutely not practical for daily use. I’m just saying the reality is more complicated.

> for many limited-production supercars, their value actually go up over time

It depends.

Daily driver cars are depreciating assets. A supercar in fantastic condition that has little / no miles is an appreciating asset. A Bugatti supercar with 150k miles doesn't really have a large market, so it's likely to take a huge loss to sell in a reasonable amount of time. It might sell faster if it is parted (sometimes rare vehicle owners will pay way over list price to get replacement parts fast so they can get their prized possession working again quickly).

Re: You Crashed a $3M Bugatti. Now What?

#53

Post by gaadd33 »

tptacek wrote: post #11
H8crilA wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you have $100M the car is still a lower fraction of your net worth than for most people. Also I would consider a car like that to be more like a piece of art, something you have because it's nice. Like a mansion. Nobody needs a mansion. Also, there are diminishing returns to having a high net worth, i.e. every successive 2x increment matters less. No surprise there are goods on the market that are trying to counte…

I didn't call it evil. I mean to say it's baffling. A mansion makes sense! I don't want one but see the appeal: it's extremely durable, can be handed down for generations, can potentially improve day-to-day quality of life in a number of ways. I literally don't see what a $2MM car gets you than a $500k car doesn't.

Do you feel that way about art too? Most of these cars are more like works of art. Sure as transportation it doesn't give you anything more, just as an original Warhol doesn't give you anything more than a print.

Re: You Crashed a $3M Bugatti. Now What?

#54

Post by skokage »

rtpg wrote: post #44
sekasi wrote: post #9

To (most) people commenting and reading this, the question 'why would you pay that much money for a car' is just about context. To much of non-first world countries, buying an iPhone Pro Max would evoke the same question. That amount of money symbolises food for a long period of time. Unfortunately your context shifts out a lot. It becomes normalised to buy an iPhone. It becomes normalised to pay a lot of money to bu…

> To much of non-first world countries, buying an iPhone Pro Max would evoke the same question. That amount of money symbolises food for a long period of time. The median yearly income in the very very poorest countries in the world is $500-1,000. So an iPhone might be 3 years of salary. Most of these supercars are worth more than what the average American would make over 40 years. Beyond the fact that rural environm…

>If these companies wanted to they could mass produce and sell at 1/10th the cost. But that defeats the purpose of these cars existing.

I'm not so sure if that would be feasible. In the case of say a limited edition Hurican I don't think there is enough additional engineering cost that can justify doubling the price of a $500k car for special editions, but I'm also not sure if mass production could drop the price for a new one down to $50k. The amount of specialized equipment and expertise involved in building these things are immense: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVjtpr6LUuE

After all, while the new c8 corvettes have near-supercar levels of performance from a numbers perspective for a $60k car, the exterior and interior quality is so far away from that of supercars and hypercars it's not even funny, and GM is still taking a loss on every 'vette sold. The companies listed in the article just make extremely bespoke and specialized vehicles, and I'm sure mass production would only cause quality control issues. Besides, there really aren't that many people that can afford such expensive toys, mid-tier luxury brands like BMW and Mercedes already have many $100k cars (AMG's and M cars) sitting on lots because of a lack of demand; It's not because people don't want them, they just can't afford them.

Re: You Crashed a $3M Bugatti. Now What?

#55

Post by perl4ever »

ehsankia wrote: post #38
m463 wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Would you be able to fly your own jet? Because you would be able to drive your own bugatti, immediately. No jet license, jet physical, jet training, jet regulation.

I'm sure if you can buy a jet, the cost of a pilot wouldn't be pennies comparatively. That aside, the point being made above is utility. The difference between getting an iPhone 11 Pro Max and a $3m car is that the former can be objectively beneficial, if you're someone who uses their phone for business all day long, even a 5% improvement in how efficient you are has significant impact on how much money you make. A s…

"The only use is showing off and making yourself feel good about it."

Do you never buy anything for visual, tactile, or other aesthetics? Or is that what you mean by "making yourself feel good about it"?

I don't think modern Bugattis are attractive. But that's a personal opinion, like what art you like. Nothing to do with "status" or other peoples' opinions.

Re: You Crashed a $3M Bugatti. Now What?

#56

Post by perl4ever »

lonelappde wrote: post #24
libria wrote: post #20

> Singh’s insurance policy covered the cost of the repairs; he declines to specify the total amount but says the incident did not increase his monthly premium. I assume they did so only after the at-fault driver's insurance was maxed out?

If the law would hold me liable for damages to a car worth over about $100K, even if I was 100% at fault, the law is deeply unjust. At some point the act of putting an absurdly expensive car in public is negligent behavior.

People can and do put their cars right through houses, which cost much more than $100K. And some houses are situated in spots where people crash into them over and over, like at the end of a T where it isn't visible to a reckless or drunk driver until too late. So wouldn't your logic apply equally to such a house?

Re: You Crashed a $3M Bugatti. Now What?

#57

Post by perl4ever »

dragonwriter wrote: post #39
tptacek wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I didn't call it evil. I mean to say it's baffling. A mansion makes sense! I don't want one but see the appeal: it's extremely durable, can be handed down for generations, can potentially improve day-to-day quality of life in a number of ways. I literally don't see what a $2MM car gets you than a $500k car doesn't.

> I literally don't see what a $2MM car gets you than a $500k car doesn't. $1.5MM in conspicuous consumption. The ability to burn through cash for no practical benefit is how much of our society signals success.

Every beautiful old building, never mind, say, the pyramids, probably represents a lot more relative wealth and suffering than any modern toy of the rich. It's implicit in the amount of hand work you can see in old stuff.

Re: You Crashed a $3M Bugatti. Now What?

#58

Post by berbec »

p1necone wrote: post #16
myself248 wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If I could afford either a jet or a Bugatti, there isn't even a question in my mind. Not a moment's hesitation. Jet, jet, jet, jet, and more jet. Heck, even if I could afford both, I think I'd just buy two jets. You know, for when one's in the shop.

Same here. I can't see the point in an iPhone Pro Max though. Although I think even if I had $3b I'd rather have an old mark 1 mr2, or an AE86. Or a modern lotus elise.

Just don't accidentally buy a Hachi-Go

Re: You Crashed a $3M Bugatti. Now What?

#59

Post by tptacek »

perl4ever wrote: post #57
dragonwriter wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I literally don't see what a $2MM car gets you than a $500k car doesn't. $1.5MM in conspicuous consumption. The ability to burn through cash for no practical benefit is how much of our society signals success.

Every beautiful old building, never mind, say, the pyramids, probably represents a lot more relative wealth and suffering than any modern toy of the rich. It's implicit in the amount of hand work you can see in old stuff.

Do you need someone to actually say out loud that they would not build a pyramid like a pharoah? Meanwhile, I just want to know what the actual attraction of a two million dollar car is.

Re: You Crashed a $3M Bugatti. Now What?

#60

Post by rasz »

joeblau wrote: post #37

1. File insurance claim 2. Get your claim money 3. Premium goes up 4. Buy another one

Usually you dont own a $3m car, your LLC in Montana (no tax state) does. No need to worry about premiums, in case of a crash you use another LLC to buy and insure a new one.
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