I've gotten burned on used cars badly enough that I'm willing to buy new. I think the best outcome is a quality used car with low mileage, but that's actually

I've gotten burned on used cars badly enough that I'm willing to buy new. I think the best outcome is a quality used car with low mileage, but that's actually hard to find, and there's some risk involved. The best you can do is find a used car that appears to be quality. I'm three times bitten, forever shy on that one. A lot of people figure that the most predictable and low cost approach is to buy new and take good care of the car for at least a decade. There's a big difference between a used car with low mileage that you've owned since the start, and one that you've test driven once or twice. The worst approach from a financial pov is to buy new and sell every few years. But buying a lemon of a used car and running up the maintenance bills sucks big time.