Luxury cars in Buenos Aires

[¡Sencillamente yo!]

Luxury autos and even more so, exotic cars, in my observation are a NO NO here. A person could not do a better job of placing a target on themselves to attract the attention of criminals. Even if one can easily afford the cost, due to increased taxes, it's just not wise to associate yourself with a possession like that. If you have a lot of money, it's best to live a quiet, comfortable life. Enjoy a good neighborhood, good schools if you have children to educate, top healthcare, great food, clothing, vacations, leisure, etc ... As far as cars go, buy something new, so it is safe and dependable, but don't go crazy for status - go for functionality and have one less thing to worry about when you park it and walk away from it. My best advice.

 

[jblaze5779]

You can't even wear a diamond engagement ring on the street here. Why would you want to drive around in a Ferrari? Seems like a really good way to draw the wrong type of attention to yourself.

 

[semigoodlookin]

Even if I was rich enough to have a Ferrari, I would avoid it here and I can't imagine the insulated life one would need to live with that car securely.

There's not much of a scene here. I once saw a Ferrari California (no, not the classic but the newer one) which I think at the time was the base model in the company's range. Nice car, though. I have been here 10 years and that's the extent of the exotic cars I have seen. Obviously, in London I would need around 10 minutes. Rio was on the news the other day because of the protests and one of the things I noticed first was how much better the cars on the street were. Newer, better brands, better models etc.

Mercs and Audis are relatively common in Buenos Aires, but the models don't seem to match the age or quality of those in Europe. I think models here are a few years behind.

It's even rare to see a top of the range of any car model. There's just not enough personal wealth amongst the population, which partly explains why the second hand car market is so expensive.

 

[FrankPintor]

I think the luxury car scene here tends to upmarket 4x4s as opposed to low-clearance supercars. For a densely populated city with poor on-street parking this might be a bit strange, but given the potholes and sleeping policemen, the size of the country, with poor roads outside Buenos Aires, and the need to fend off incompetent Argentinian drivers this makes sense I think (or at least it factored into my own decision). I see Volvos, VWs, lots of Toyota SW4s, Jeeps, and Hyundai and Kia SUVs.

If you go to some upmarket resort like Mar Azul or Mar de las Pampas in the province of Buenos Aires, you'll see that all of the internal roads are dirt or sand. No supercars there, though I'm sure there's enough money to buy more than a few.

 

[¡Sencillamente yo!]

This is pretty cool:

 

[Alpinista]

I am not much of an engine person myself, but still find it quite interesting in the restaurant Napoles in Av Caseros. There are quite a few old cars and motos. (not sure whether it is open now during the day, but certainly worth a visit after the lockdown is over)

 

[SecretShopper]

Reading the comments here does surprise me a bit. Although I know crime exists everywhere, I wouldn't have guessed the safety situation to be more suspect in BA. I've lived in many different countries of all economic levels, but I'll focus on Latin America. In Colombia and Mexico I had no problems with jewelry or cars. Obviously I wasn't in the worst neighborhoods but still I never had to worry about much. I haven't spent time in Brazil so I can't really compare that.

What I usually do is get a sense of the area before wearing jewelry. But I'm surprised BA is considered more dangerous. Is it actually crimes happening against people or are people just scared? Often in Colombia or Mexico a tourist would tell me I'm brave for wearing jewelry because they think I'm also a tourist. I drove around Mexico city all the time in a bright orange Lotus. Aside from a million looks I didn't have issues.

 

[FrankPintor]

I drove around Mexico city all the time in a bright orange Lotus. Aside from a million looks I didn't have issues.

This has to be worth a story.

 

[semigoodlookin]

I think the luxury car scene here tends to upmarket 4x4s as opposed to low-clearance supercars. For a densely populated city with poor on-street parking this might be a bit strange, but given the potholes and sleeping policemen, the size of the country, with poor roads outside Buenos Aires, and the need to fend off incompetent Argentinian drivers this makes sense I think (or at least it factored into my own decision). I see Volvos, VWs, lots of Toyota SW4s, Jeeps, and Hyundai and Kia SUVs.

If you go to some upmarket resort like Mar Azul or Mar de las Pampas in the province of Buenos Aires, you'll see that all of the internal roads are dirt or sand. No supercars there, though I'm sure there's enough money to buy more than a few.

Which upmarket 4x4s do you see here? The pick up trucks here from VW, Ford, Chevrolet et al are not upmarket models in their class. I don't see many Range Rovers, Mercedes G Wagons, Porsche Cayennes, etc (none at all, in fact). Those Jeeps are not upmarket models, either. They are priced less than a Mercede sedan, for example, and in some cases have the same price as a hatch. I agree that if you have X amount to spend on a vehicle here, many people seem to choose those pick-ups and it doesn't make sense... but they are not luxury vehicles.

I think the lack of luxury cars is more to do with the erosion of the middle class than crime. People simply don't have enough money to buy them. We also cannot forget financing options are terrible here and that cars are over priced.

 

[jblaze5779]

Rich people in Argentina most likely know how much these normal cars (jeeps, VW trucks,toyotas) cost outside the country and equate it to the even greater cost of luxury cars (plus the visibility they bring here where success and personal wealth are not things most people aspire to).

I would suspect that the richest Args do own these cars but in the states or Europe where they go to get a breath of freedom and the first world 6 months out of the year. Drive a beater in the home country to be reasonable with the money and not get stalked by the poors.