HGTV personality Tarek El Moussa is defending a $150,000 BMW X5 he and his ex-wife Christina Haack bought together for their 16-year-old daughter, Taylor, saying the teen earned it rather than had it handed to her.
El Moussa, known for “Flip or Flop,” discussed the purchase on the “Money Rehab” podcast on Wednesday. He said Taylor, who has a 4.2 GPA and was named MVP of her freshman soccer team, had not even asked for the car.
“She’s an absolutely fantastic kid and didn’t just get it. She actually earned it and, if you ask me, she deserved it because she worked really, really hard and didn’t even ask for that car,” El Moussa said.
He said Taylor would have been content with a used Honda, but he opted for the BMW partly out of concern for her safety. “That thing is built like a tank,” he said. “She’s in a safe car, and she loves it.”
El Moussa pushed back on the idea that his daughter is spoiled, pointing to his own efforts to secure her financial future through investments in stocks and real estate throughout her life.
“She was flying in private jets when she was like, 1 years old, OK, so this kid, she’s grown up around things,” he said. “So when I grew up, I didn’t have anything, right? So I’m obsessed with things because I never had things. She’s always had things. So, she looks at things different than I look at things.”
The podcast host, Christina Lapin, also noted that El Moussa once bought his current wife, Heather El Moussa, a white Ferrari on their second date after she mentioned it was her dream car.
In August, El Moussa posted a video on Instagram showing the moment he, Heather, and Haack surprised Taylor with the BMW. Taylor was seen in tears, saying, “Oh my God!” El Moussa captioned the post: “What’s more of a surprise… the car for Taylor or the fact that the three of us actually pulled this off? 😂 The car is so well deserved, we love you so much Tay.”
El Moussa, 45, and Haack, 43, were married for seven years before divorcing in 2016. They also share an 11-year-old son, Brayden, and continued co-hosting “Flip or Flop” together until the show ended in 2022 after ten seasons. El Moussa married Heather, 39, in October 2021, and the couple welcomed a son, Tristan, in 2023.
In July, Heather El Moussa responded to a social media follower who questioned her about never having to worry about money. “We didn’t come from money,” she said. “Tarek and I, both separately and together, have worked very hard to get where we are today.”
