Eh, I am pretty much with you on this one op. As a family, my wife and I can afford much nicer cars than we do, but we simply don't need them. At this point, my wife and I have three cars:
1) 2007 Impala LT - Daily commuter
2) 2005 Equinox LT - #2 Commuter and primary winter transportation (AWD)
3) 2000 Silverado - Alternate winter vehicle (if roads are really bad) and the going to Menards/HomeDepot/Lowes truck for big item purchases
The Impala was the most expensive of the cars purchased, and we've had it for 4 years or so now, but it was still under 20k. The other two were well under 10k a piece. They all start, run, and don't have any major issues. And, they're all paid off. The only downside is any major malfunction away from home could result in needing to have it towed, but not having to make payments more than makes up for it. And generally speaking, many issues happen at home anyway, so I have a backup vehicle if something goes wrong there.
Compare that to a couple I know, who I'm fairly sure take in less income, and drive newish 2010+ cars that were bought new and on payments. They always "don't have enough money" to go out to eat, or whatever the case may be. Always talking about being broke, etc. etc. And they're not fancy cars either, just 20k+ each I'd imagine.
I guess some people just feel happier with themselves if they're driving around in that nice new car. Me, I could give two craps about the cars I drive. All of my cars are currently worth less than 10k, and I don't know that I've ever had a person make a negative remark about what I drive. If they do, oh well. Eventually we'll upgrade our daily commuter, and I one day hope to have a nicer ride than my Chevys. Thing is, they're pretty easy to work on, find parts for, etc. And if I can't fix it, there are a number of places I can take them that can do it and do it cheaply.
And lastly, people that buy 30-40k trucks simply baffle me. I've heard stories of the guy with a 40k truck that wouldn't load stuff in the back of it because it was new and pretty. I know guys who buy that as their primary vehicle. And when you look at it all, you're getting 10-15mpg, and seldom loading the back up with things that trucks are generally used for. Me, I'd rather have a 13 year old beater that works that I can use when I need it, and park when I don't. Granted, I have space to park all three vehicles easily, and not every one can do that, but I simply don't see owning a 40k truck as necessary unless you put it to use more than once a week. It seems that greater than 75% of the people that own them don't use the truck function more than 5 times a year, and for that, you could rent one from HomeDepot/Lowes/wherever.