Saw an old lady getting out of a BMW X7 M60i (the high performance version). I asked her what made her choose the M60i and she just said “I dunno, the salesman said it was the best one they had”.

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[–] 92 points 7 months ago* (1 child)

Two sides of the same coin.
When I was in my 20s I had all the energy and creativity, but couldn't afford the means to put them to good use.

Now in my 40s I have the necessary disposable income, but my energy has been zapped by trying to get on top of this adulting business. I still get a creative burst, but I have to manage my projects so that I can stick to something I'm actually able to complete.

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  • [–] 66 points 7 months ago (4 children)

    When I was 38 I finally able to get that sports car I always wanted and my twit of a neighbor who had 6 kids and pregnant with #7 condescendingly said that it was my mid life crises car.

    My response was there is no mid life crises there was always a lack of money crises..

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  • [–] 43 points 7 months ago (3 children)

    Just know, on that day, that neighbour wanted nothing more than to trade spots with you for a week.

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  • [–] 35 points 7 months ago

    When I was young, I had energy but no money. When I'm older, I'll have money but no energy. It's only now in my 30s and 40s that I have... neither. 😔

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  • [–] 33 points 7 months ago (1 child)

    I’m old. What’s money?

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  • [–] 27 points 7 months ago (4 children)

    Whoever finds a way to convert money into youth is on a winner.

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  • [–] 53 points 7 months ago (6 children)

    Could have fooled me: I’m old and have no money

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  • [–] 13 points 7 months ago (1 child)

    Having disposable income these days comes from having the same luck that made boomers millionaires. Not to say it doesn’t involve hard work, but lots of people work hard. The people who get actual compensation for it are either born into it or get very lucky.

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  • [–] 3 points 7 months ago (2 children)

    Better to have spent your money in your youth when you enjoyed it properly.

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  • [–] 9 points 7 months ago (1 child)

    I didn’t have money then either.

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  • [–] 0 points 7 months ago

    It's all relative - if you didn't have enough money then you would have starved or died of exposure, so good thing you spent it on food and shelter instead of dying? (Or, you spent all your free time growing food and making your own clothing and shelter - how did you pay the taxes on the land then?)

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  • [–] 20 points 7 months ago

    Money is wasted on the rich and their lavish culture. Don't be ageist about it.

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  • [–] 33 points 7 months ago*

    The logical correlation would be money is wasted on the rich. Youth --> young : Money --> rich

    IOW the idea is about not appreciating what you have ("you don't know what you've got til it's gone"). So young people not appreciating the youth they have is in the same vein as rich people not appreciating the money they have.

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  • [–] 16 points 7 months ago (1 child)

    Neither is a waste, but neither is fair.

    The young are paid with youth, while the elderly are paid with currency.

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  • [–] 12 points 7 months ago (8 children)

    That's actually why the used market for BMWs is such trash. If you want a manual transmission good luck finding one because the original buyers are the people OP is talking about. People who actually know which cars are good tend to be poor people lol

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  • [–] [S] 6 points 7 months ago (7 children)

    Eh, downvote me, but manuals are overrated. Humans just can’t react as quickly anymore, especially with the power output now.

    Now give me a gently used B58 or N63TU3 engine and I’ll be quite happy. Luckily these people that just “buy the best” don’t know what they have and just putt around town for a couple years.

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  • [–] 6 points 7 months ago (1 child)

    Sorry but what do you mean you have to react quickly when manuals are overrated? What should you be able to do so fast in manual?

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  • [–] 3 points 7 months ago

    Agreed. Manual shifting is superior because you understand what you're going to do and can plan the shift vs acceleration. An automatic can only respond to your attempts to accelerate. An automatic will prevent moments where you shift too early and lose accelerative ability, but driven accurately, a manual will be more effective. The fun mentioned in other comments is the process of mastering this balance. An automatic will (should) never approach the boundary of what the engine/transmission is capable of. With a manual, your destiny is in your hands.

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  • [–] 5 points 7 months ago (2 children)

    Yeah they do 5 mile journeys which turns the oil into fuel, then they follow the BMW service interval of 20k which is about 4x too long for a performance engine.

    Lots of 'gentle use' means the bottom end spent it's whole life at minimum oil pressure, oil which was probably trash most the time.

    It's not the clueless pensioners fault, but man the industry sucks now

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  • [–] 3 points 7 months ago* (1 child)

    Yeah you need to change the oil in these cars every 5k. They are high performance turbo engines. I would never buy a BMW that just was returned from lease. Walking disaster

    You also need to wind the engine out from time to time or carbon buildup. Rich people in these cars literally never floor it from what I see

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  • [–] 4 points 7 months ago

    You talking about the old Italian tune-up? I'm all about it. I drive a WRX, and the majority of my trips are with my kids to and from where we walk to school. Tiny trips. So I feel inclined to really get on her when I have my occasional trips elsewhere. It'd be wrong not to.

    It's also a manual, and I know it wasn't you (or maybe it was), but I don't drive manual because it's the best performance option. I know that flappy paddle gearbox, to steal a line from Clarkson, is a faster, more accurate shift than I ever could do, but it's just fun driving stick. I just feel more connected to the road driving stick.

    I got this car new in October '24, and it's my goal to keep it forever, because I'm not sure how long for the world stick is in general. Or ICE engines. And that's okay, it'll be a relic.

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  • [–] 3 points 7 months ago

    When I can't buy a manual anymore I'll just kill myself. Lol. They are just so immensely satisfying to operate.

    Worse than automatics in 2026 though in every way except fun.

    B58 will probably be my next car. My n55 has almost 200k on it and the problems are getting kind of frequent.

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  • [–] 8 points 7 months ago* (9 children)

    Yep, never seen a young person with an expensive car before

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  • [–] 4 points 7 months ago (6 children)

    Not one that wasn't given to them by a rich daddy or mommy.

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  • [–] 4 points 7 months ago (1 child)

    Yep, never seen a young person buy something that they can't really afford. Young folks are so wise, patient, and financially literate that it strains my imagination to even entertain the idea of one making poor purchasing decisions.

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  • [–] 2 points 7 months ago (3 children)

    I know many young people with expensive cars and not one was given to them. Not everyone can afford an expensive car but almost anyone can get one if they wish.

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  • [–] 3 points 7 months ago (1 child)

    It’s technically possible, but an absolutely terrible idea. That mindset will keep them poor in the future. See: $100k truck parked next to trailer home, hemi charger on military base, Range Rover in the hood.

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  • [–] 3 points 7 months ago

    It’s technically possible, but an absolutely terrible idea

    This is part of my broader point. Nothing in OP's story suggests the old lady is actually flush with cash; she just has a bitchin' car. She could be an idiot who signed on for 45% APR. Seeing someone with a nice car doesn't mean they're actually rich.

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  • [–] 1 point 7 months ago

    Define young. Define expensive.

    16 year olds in a new custom Lambo? If you know more than one of those who "earned" the money for that, you've got an outrageously rare set of acquaintances - or a very distorted view of "earned."

    I bought a brand new Mazda Miata on credit my first week in my first job after University - was that given to me? Maybe the car wasn't, but the education was.

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  • [–] 6 points 7 months ago

    I doubt age has anything to do with it. She likely was not begging in the streets when she was young.

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  • [–] 6 points 7 months ago

    the quote is by George Bernard Shaw

    Wisdom is wasted on the old, and youth is wasted on the young

    nothing to do with money, everything to do with the accumulated wisdom of years of living and the ignorant confidence of youth.

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  • [–] 3 points 7 months ago

    The purpose of Youth is for it to be wasted.

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  • [–] 4 points 7 months ago*

    The purpose of pointless expensive rubbish is to show that you can afford to waste your money on pointless expensive rubbish.

    Vehicles like that are wasted on everyone, that's the point.

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  • [–] 13 points 7 months ago* (16 children)

    I often see people driving fast cars like Teslas as if gravity will instantly throw them off the road if they turn the car at faster speeds than 10 mph. They brake like 20 seconds before they are gonna turn, then go slowly slowly towards the street they want to turn in to, then they almost stop and turn the steering wheel.

    Not frustrating at all to be behind one of those...

    I think some people dont know how gravity works when they are in a car, so they act like they are controlling an oil tanker, just in case.

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  • [–] 7 points 7 months ago (2 children)
  • [–] 9 points 7 months ago (5 children)

    idk how you can be upset about people driving safely

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  • [+] 8 points 7 months ago (4 children)
  • [–] 7 points 7 months ago (3 children)

    explain how people artificially driving faster than they’re comfortable with is safer

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  • [–] 7 points 7 months ago* (1 child)

    It upsets people and is actually illegal to drive too slow. Makes other people angry, they take risks to overtake you, and could cause accidents.

    This is in our official driving school books even.

    If you are not comfortable driving at speed limit, you need to learn that. Its part of being a good driver. Of course depending on weather.

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  • [–] 2 points 7 months ago

    You are not supposed to drive the speed limit, you can be close but they add the word "limit" to imply that you shouldn't exceed it.

    That being said, some roads do have a minimum speed as well (the section of the interstate I drive everyday has a minimum speed of 40MPH), but the vast majority of roads, at least in the US, only have a maximum speed listed. Weather definitely affects that though as a big ass dually will be less likely to hydroplane than a little Miata.

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  • [–] 1 point 7 months ago (4 children)

    One thing to keep in mind is a feature of EVs is automatic braking when you take your foot off the gas. Mine has different settings on how hard you want it to brake. I think the idea is that it's safer for something like an accident (which it is) and you gain some energy back into your battery.

    I think that might be what you're experiencing here.

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  • [–] 2 points 7 months ago (3 children)

    No, its just people being afraid to drive at the speed limit and who think they need to break 20 seconds before they turn. Its because they have no feeling for their car so they are afraid.

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  • [–] 2 points 7 months ago (2 children)

    Yeah that just seems incorrect — have you driven a Tesla? Because they absolutely have the feature I'm talking about.

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  • [–] 0 points 7 months ago (1 child)

    Yeah I know they do, but if the driver doesnt take their foot off the gas pedal, it doesnt break.

    Many electric cars, maybe all, have the same feature.

    Its the driver taking the foot off the pedal too early that makes the car break too early.

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  • [–] 1 point 7 months ago

    You're essentially asking them to accelerate towards a stop instead of temporarily incoveniencing you.

    Pro tip: 3 seconds in between you and the car in front of you. That way this won't ever inconvenience you again.

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  • [–] 5 points 7 months ago (5 children)

    If you imagine a line graph, there’s supposed to be a crossover point between the two, a sweet spot.

    You are the one who ultimately decides when and how large that sweet spot is.

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  • [–] 5 points 7 months ago

    Remember that joke about men’s midlife crisis, that they'd buy a sports car when they are 40?
    It would be fun to ask the men in their 40s around here what they could buy... I'm still not there, but currently I can buy a pizza.

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  • [–] 7 points 7 months ago (1 child)

    Nah.

    Some people had influence on it.

    But there's not enough "good" spots left and the nepo babies will always get theirs.

    The more wealth inequality worsens, the less social mobility there is. A rich idiot like trump can do literally everything wrong but still wind up on top due to generational inertia.

    Meanwhile someone that busts ass their whole life, can barely beat "lifestyle inflation" where they can't provide the same level of lifestyle for their kids despite being in a higher earners bracket than their parents.

    That stall can kill an entire civilizations drive.

    If there's no reward for work, everyone does just enough to not get in trouble. It doesn't sound like a big deal, because we're living thru it so it's "normal". But it's also undeniable that it's not working out well.

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  • [–] 1 point 7 months ago

    I was never wealthy enough to make the most of my youth. Consequently, I couldn't leverage my youth to age happily.

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  • [–] 0 points 7 months ago

    $116,550 list.

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  • [+] -24 points 7 months ago* (4 children)

    How dare they?!

    Also. Maybe don't be such an ageist, lazy, nosey, lying do nothing piece of shit with nothing better to but harass folks who are more successful than you. Fuck off

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