[JSH]

Originally Posted by Isaac Zachary

I guess from my standpoint is I'm sick of overkill. I know a guy who got a brand new, top-of-the-line MacBook Pro with 64 GB of RAM that costs in the thousands and thousands of dollars to do book keeping that would have worked just as fine on the cheapest Chromebook. Why?

Possible reasons:

1. That is what they wanted
2. It is their money
3. A MacBook Pro has "status" in their friends group
4. Apple supports their laptops for 7-10 years
5. Future-proof: Who knows what the minimum spec will be in 7-10 years. It is cheaper to buy one expensive laptop or 3 cheap ones?
6. The cost per month over a 10 year life is pretty small.

Originally Posted by Isaac Zachary

I see large, dual cab pickups used to transport a single individual. Why?

Possible reasons:

1. That is what they wanted
2. It is their money
3. Their friends think dual cab trucks are cool
4. They need to transport more than 3 people at a time and do so when you aren't watching
5. They use this vehicle to do actual truck stuff on other says when you aren't watching
6. They decided against spending extra money to buy a commuter vehicle in addition to their giant vehicle and instead just spend more on gas each week.

Originally Posted by Isaac Zachary

Obviously there's the swiss-army-knife way of looking at vehicles. Why buy a barrage of vehicles for different purposes when you can have a one-size-fits-all vehicle for all your personal needs?

Which is how most buyers look at vehicles considering they cost tens of thousands of dollars. Sure you could have a fleet of vehicles to do different things - or one vehicle that does most things OK.

Originally Posted by Isaac Zachary

The typical 5th door hatch design is -to me- practical yet inefficient. For all those miles I'm not carrying around a free dresser that my wife wants for the spare bedroom, what purpose does a squarish rear end have other than to make more air drag?

That is one way to think about it. I like wagons and hatchbacks because they allow me to drive a smaller vehicle than would be needed if I had to have a sedan with a trunk big enough to carry fairly normal bulky loads. They also allow me to easily load long cargo like 2"x4" x 12' boards. If I didn't drive wagons and hatchbacks for the last 30 years I would need a sedan AND a truck or van. Hard to bring home twenty 2x4s with a sedan or a hot water heater with a sedan.

Originally Posted by Isaac Zachary

I'd rather spend as little as possible for these necessary evils on wheels. My car needs to get me from point A to point B. I don't care what it looks like, how much power it has, what fancy bells and whistles it has nor what brand it is. Just as long as it gets me from point A to point B as efficiently and cheaply as possible without being impractical.

Not a bad way at all to look at purchasing an expensive depreciating asset.