I knew quite a few people who had a dream of owning a specific nicer brand, like BMW. They started making decent money and bought one that was 3-5 years old.

I knew quite a few people who had a dream of owning a specific nicer brand, like BMW. They started making decent money and bought one that was 3-5 years old. Literally 6mo later they'd dump it at a loss because during that time it was constantly in the shop and each repair cost was ridiculous. I now know a few people who own nicer cars for peer and client status reasons (I'm sure they like having a nice car, too). Leasing or selling the new car after a couple years seems like the only sane way to operate. A friend bought a Mini Cooper new and drove it for 10 years. It had very low milage because for quite a few years it wasn't needed much. For the most part it ran fine, but paying for expensive brake pads, run-flat tires (no spare), and other maintenance on a car where the glove box wouldn't stay closed and the cloth headliner sagged down just didn't make sense.