1% on display: 'Need a last-minute gift idea? How about a car?'

[Newsjock]

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/12/21/MNON1MACDN.DTL

Cash might still be tight for many in the 99 percent income brackets this Christmas, but they aren't the people cruising the fancy car lots. There, in the land of $110,000 Range Rovers and $93,000 BMWs, sales have been pedal to the metal for years, and this one is no exception.

... Laurie of Lafayette ... was in the Lexus showroom in Concord the other day, running a hand over the fine leather of a $64,050 GX 460 SUV, visions dancing in her head of it sitting in front of her house with a red bow.

... Laurie has two kids, so the nine-speaker sound system would be a hit, she noted. And she wouldn't mind the heated and ventilated front seats, or the V8 engine for powering around town between soccer games at 15 miles per gallon.

... In San Francisco, sales at the stately British Motors dealership on Van Ness Avenue: ...
"Last year, four gentlemen came in to buy Range Rovers for themselves, and after picking them out they decided to get some for their wives, too," said marketing manager Mark Wolfe. "We'll be seeing that kind of thing again. 'Tis the month to do it."

[RC]

1. Cars make great stocking stuffers.

The toy models, that is. Not many of us can afford the real thing, especially as gifts.

[nadinbrzezinski]

2. For real we gave my dad a Benz (the model kind) many years ago

[zbdent]

4. too bad there aren't any American-made models ...

[Marrah_G]

3. Eventually the divide will be so wide that the people will rise up

And then all those pretty bobbles won't mean a god damn thing.

[JHB]

5. Let's make it simple...

...if you are able to NOT treat buying a new car as a major purchase that requires planning, forethought, and consulting your spouse as to whether or not to make the purchase...


...then you can afford to pay higher taxes, pay your employees more, or both.

[Glassunion]

6. Not sure where I stand on this...

There are a lot of jobs here in the US that are sustained by these companies.

I have a friend who works for BMW USA. He says he loves the work and they take care of the employees. So when one of the 1% want to drop an X6 in a Christmas stocking, my friend's employment remains secure.

But that is my anecdotal POV.

[renate]

7. I'd love to know how these people made their money

I don't begrudge anybody their wealth if they came by it honestly--I just hope it's not the bankers whose jobs we bailed out who are buying these cars.

I had no idea the average age of a car in the US is 11 years--my kids have been bugging us for years to replace our (now 12-year-old) cars because they were embarrassing, and I'll admit that in the school parking lots our cars are relatively long in the tooth. Before 2008 I never saw cars older than ours; people's habits have definitely changed in the past couple of years.

I hope Laurie from the article considers making a donation to the shelter down the street, where at least one resident is quoted as saying he'd be happy to have a car to sleep in.

[badtoworse]

8. So some people are rich enough to give an expensive car as a present.

What else is new?