Stereotypes be damned, I'm Chinese and I love a good sale. In my mind, there are very few things in life that can't be purchased on sale, at cost or on Overstock.com. I have long since learned the art of purchasing secondhand vehicles – so why the hell am I paying $1,400 to replace my 968 door panel just because it's an orphan Porsche? Oh wait, that's why. It's a Porsche.

Is there really such a thing as paying too much for a good thing? Can any force of nature stop a girl toiling 40 hours a week at Hot Dog on a Stick from paying what she thinks Tiffany & Co. has the right to charge for one of those bracelets with the little heart dangling at the end? Can an 11 hour plane ride to Japan really be justified for 20% off a Snap-On torque wrench that retails for $2,000? Who is this Armani guy, and where does he get off adding all those extra zeroes to the price on a plain old suit?

Why do we voluntarily hand over extra cash for the name brand?

When we purchase our new or used vehicles, signing off on the dotted line means bearing and accepting the ensuing financial hits we inevitably take to make the car and the driving experience better. We lust after the mystique a pricey brand name vehicle – Porsche, BMW, Lancer Evolution MR — evokes when we turn the ignition on, but we wince at having to pay for the privilege to drive such wonderful machines. We want the best looking clothing, the nicest shoes, the brightest and most valuable watches, the rarest gemstones, but so few of us are actually willing to pay for the right to own such things. Cars, and the individual components that make up a car, are no different.

I can justify a handful of pricey purchases that come with the name. I will spring for a Kaaz 1.5-way LSD that costs $1,000 because I don't need the headache or potential hospital visit caused by a faulty OBX helical-type LSD that shatters but costs a reasonable $375 on eBay. Volk wheels are gorgeous, and engineered to lightweight perfection in a way that TRs only dream of. I long for GReddy the same way Asian baby boomers pray to the shrine of Mercedes-Benz.

There is no substitute for paying for the priceless man hours devoted to engineering, crafting, designing and marketing what are genuinely some of the best products on the market. In this industry, sometimes you can't buy the generic brand. But on the flip side, is anybody really surprised to know that Snap-On is hemorrhaging money right now because consumers have caught on to their dirty little secret? That their tools, while very well-made, are really not that much better than other less-expensive brands that also offer a lifetime warranty? Your favorite truck driver probably won't be out of a job anytime soon, but the day of reckoning has come. They couldn't honestly think that overcharging by 450% would go unpunished, could they?

A few weeks ago, my lovely friend Elizabeth signed us up for a wine tasting that was titled "Learn About Wine: The Best of the Best," because it supposedly featured the best and most exclusive vino in California. After a few rounds of pinot noir and merlot, she blurted out in disgust, "This all tastes like Charles Shaw!" She was referring to Trader Joe's infamous "Two Buck Chuck," wine that costs $1.99 per bottle. They featured samples of very rare chocolate ice cream made with cocoa from Costa Rica, Borneo and Africa, to which she giggled, "This tastes like Yoo-hoo!" I stopped at Del Taco afterwards.

An entire night of disguising our tastes and pretending to enjoy "the best" cost us $130. $130, or one-tenth the cost of another future car project...