You can make it a good value if you are a diehard car hobbyist, but I concede that this is not most people. I am still holding onto a 21 year old mid-luxury BM

You can make it a good value if you are a diehard car hobbyist, but I concede that this is not most people. I am still holding onto a 21 year old mid-luxury BMW. I have spent countless hours working on it and probably have $2000 in parts in it (I have owned it for 9 years.) I am grateful that I have the free time, collection of tools and documentation, know some tricks about buying parts, and can figure out machines. I feel that I have obtained a great value considering what it will cost to get a newer car, in similar state of repair, that gives a similar experience driving. I would not enjoy most other car makes. People buy these German cars for some reason, and the reason is not ever to have a maintenance free automobile, or to never spend time or money fixing the car. You are going to expend some resources one way or another, but it does not have to be mostly money.