Which buyers stretch their budgets the most to afford their rides?
Not showoffs.
"Buyers of the most expensive cars seem to handily afford them," concluded a study by LendingTree.
For example, while Tesla buyers paid an estimated $818 a month for their cars, that represented just 4.6 percent of their estimated monthly income.
Making the payments
Here are the 5 most- and least-stretched buyers, by brand. Percentages represent estimated figures.
Most
Monthly payment as % of monthly income
Least
Monthly payment as % of monthly income
Buick
10.9%
Land Rover
6.2%
Chrysler
10.9%
Volvo
6.1%
Nissan
10.6%
Mini
5.7%
Dodge
10.6%
Porsche
5%
Chevrolet
10.2%
Tesla
4.6%
Source: LendingTree
The study looked at buyers who found monthly payments on LendingTree.com in 2017 in order to estimate monthly payments vs. monthly income for buyers of 31 brands. Exotics and ultraluxury brands such as Ferrari and Bentley were not included in the study.
The most-stretched car consumers were those buying Buicks, because their income simply wasn't that high — and they got less-favorable loan terms, LendingTree said. Chrysler-brand buyers were a smidgen behind. After rounding, almost 11 percent of both Buick and Chrysler buyers' monthly income went to car payments, of $418 and $440.
