<prompt> Human: Every finance website I go to has a general rule of thumb to not spend more than 20 of your annual income on a car.That being said, why is it such a small percentage? My neighborhood has an average household salary of 100k and the average vehicle value is much higher than 20k, and every household on average has more than two as well.Are people just not following that guideline? Should my street be instead filled with 7 year old Toyotas instead of Acuras and Lexuses if people were financially smart?Last thing, do luxury vehicles sellers that average at least 40k a vehicle depend only on doctors, lawyers, and financially irresponsible people to stay in business?From my observations it seem like most people spend from 25 to 35 of their annual income on each vehicle they own instead.  <response>: I doubt that rule is based in fact. At best, it is a gut call a well written financial planner put in a blog post and has since been spewed all over the internet.A car is a depreciating asset so I suggest a much more aggressive approach. Treat a car payment like burning money. Sure, it makes you look like you have a lot of money when youre willing to burn it, but ultimately youre simply trying to impress a bunch of people you probably dont give a shit about. 