Why do people spend so much money on cars now?

I've been browsing some car buying forums and somethings just don't make sense. Not long ago you usually didn't see people buying brand new cars all that often. Now it seems like it's common place to plunk down over $40k for some SUV that will sell for 45% of that in 5 years. somethimes I see people say they are buying a new car now and will sell it in 3-5 years when it has 60k miles on it and won't have any of the factory warranty left. What's the point of buying new if all you're gonna use is the warranty? somone once said " cars are too expensive now, I need a new one that will last for 10 years".<br><br>I get it now, the norm now is 60 month financing for $400 car payments. It seems like people are bragging that they are able to afford this.