Don't know whether any of this "Millionaires club" or "get some pointless crap I could add to my signature on a forum" banter was actually aimed at me or not, but it's water off a ducks back to me (don't worry, if it was aimed at me, I've taken no offence 
).
I'm at the time of life where I want to have nice things, and finally have a little money to afford them (which I didn't have when I was younger). Mortgage was paid off years ago, no kids to leave the "inheritance" to, don't (and never had) smoke, rarely drink and don't gamble. Aside from Photography (my other big passion), cars are my only vice.
In fact taking smoking, as an example, a pack of ciggys is now what £13 a pack. Even if you are a lightish smoker and only go though 2 packs a week (my brother for example), that's £1,352.00 per year going up in smoke (literally). So whilst I would obviously like to NOT incur the £40k luxury tax, if it means the difference between getting a car with all the options I want (and can afford) or compromising and not actually getting the spec you really want, I'll take the former.
Now I will admit, that if the price including options takes me just a few hundred over the tax level, then of course I'll try and bring it down to below 40k by seeing what can be removed. But if my choice of options take me a few thousand over the 40k and I'd have to remove many options I wanted to get the car I really like, then I'll pay it.
It may seem daft even stupid to some, but it is after all our own money, and we decide how it's to be spent. That fact that others will disagree with me and think I'm bonkers is absolutely fine, and I take zero offence, as it's each to their own.
well said Andrew. What people choose to spend on a car is entirely up to them and if people don't agree then fine but it's approaching bullying sometimes with some of the idiotic comments on here. No one person is right or wrong it's why we are individuals.
I totally get the financial argument that most options are worth diddly squat when the time comes to sell a well optioned car, and buying them in the first place can risk pushing the list price over £40k and into luxury VED territory. However IMO, for many people there’s an ‘enjoyment factor’ associated with some options on a car that’s pretty much impossible to put a monetary value on, so the purchase decision comes down to more than just cost.
I usually select a few extra cost options when I buy a car, but I do try to exercise restraint when doing this. My one extravagant extra cost option was on my mk6 GTD when I went for the optional xenon headlamps that, from memory, cost around £1,100 at the time. I never regretted having speccing the xenons, and IMO they certainly added to the overall ownership experience, but it does now mean that xenon - or more probably these days LED headlamps - would be a minimum requirement on any car I bought. Probably not an issue though as technology has moved on, and many cars now come with LED headlamps as standard.
I tend to adopt the philosophy of ‘if you can afford it and you’d like to have it, then go for it!’. I grew up in an age where saving up for a major purchase was the norm, so I wouldn’t ever overstretch myself financially. However, as a friend of mine says ‘you’re a long time dead and you can’t take it with you’ so if I want something, and it’s affordable to me, I buy it.
So to those who want certain non-standard features when speccing a new car, I’d say go for it!
