It's not really bad financial advice, and people will absolutely tell you to skip some of the frivolity in the idea of generating a return. I don't think most people think of a car as an investment, but I do think that it's entirely common to spend way, way too much on a car for basic transportation. Giant trucks and SUVs that start at 40k are like the most popular cars in America. Most people probably really do need to be told that they're over-spending on cars. Like, the last time we bought a car, I had to talk my wife out of a monster SUV because she was like "well what if our kids want to take friends [on the two trips we take a year]?" Like, the other 50 weeks of the year, she's solo commuting 10 miles... I'm not making fun of her, this is sort of the default mentality in this country. In the end we settled on a smaller crossover for half the price ( < $20k) and the agreement if we wanted we'll use the money we save to rent an escalade or whatever if we want to take a big trip.