The opposite of modesty is not "buying a Ferrari". Anyone at any level of wealth can be immodest.

Not saying I agree with GP, but your point doesn't hold up.

There’s still a strong cultural bias though that is likely location dependent. I have lived in very wealthy towns for which there was not a single Ferrari or Bentley around (or any other luxury car for that matter). That ownership of an expensive car requires some degree of wealth is absolutely clear, but the inverse doesn’t follow —- average cars don’t indicate average income. It could be that the study finds that certain ethical biases are related to people who buy expensive cars, which is not the same as saying that certain ethical biases are related to wealthy people. Millionaires who drive Toyotas could simply exhibit different ethical standards than millionaires who drive Ferraris.

A frank conversation with a luxury car dealer might surrise you. People are buying these things on credit mostly, and are definitely not rich.

5-10 year old used Bentleys are ~50-60K well within the realm of a normal middle class individual.

Arent bentleys designed to be driven by a separate driver not by the owner? :)

Compared to pricing, maybe.

But driving a bently is "some work", so I would rather prefer the small e-vehicle :-))

I think the point was many people are car enthusiasts and can technically afford the maintenance if they want it that bad.

In fact, it usually takes them down the path of flipping the cars and falling up instead of down.

My fault, with >some work< I meant only the driving experience / effort, not any of the "maintenance / support" related issues (-:

Short version: I would go rather in leight-weight E-vehicle than in a heavy bently, navigating like an aircraft carrier

two doors down from my shop is an antique bently restorer. he's sold a few, but he still has 5 frames that he's working on. after all the custom panel and interior work and chasing after the few remaining parts available in all kinds of odd international corners he's still quite underwater.

Sucks to be that guy? I'm not sure what your point is. You haven't given enough information to assess much. It's also likely you don't know all the numbers or you'd be working there.

> Poor people aren't buying Ferraris and Bentleys

No, but sometimes they can finance a very (comparatively) expensive car for way too many years at an insane percentage just to appear wealthier than they are. And that stomps on the study just as much as millionaires driving a Camry IMO.