Cars - For Car Enthusiasts

...Yes. Outside of hyperconsumerist societies like the US where there is no other thing in a typical person's mind other than BUY CONSUME REPEAT forever because you people have been mentally brain fucked by your corporate owners for the last 80 years, the idea is you buy something and use it until it can no longer be reasonably repaired.

I know for a fact many Americans also think this way, because many Americans are poor and grew up generationally poor. There is no 'oh just get the new model' for any of the Bottom 40% of the US. It is "well an alternator is only $250 and with our shit credit its not like we have a choice to buy new and we literally physically have to have a car to survive this shitty state so... guess we're eating ramen for the next two months."

It's never "oh we need to have a backup camera and gps and keyless start" it's always "The 91 Toyota your dad bought used finally rusted through the frame and after hitting that pot hole its the entire front end that needs to be replaced to get it driving again, let's go by the auction and see what we can get for $500. we could never afford a new car payment."

Depreciation is fine if you lease and the leading company takes the hit

I buy new cars when I can but depreciation isn’t very relevant when you keep it long enough. We don’t yet have good statistics on longevity but they are potentially excellent

Depreciation is the only cost since you get the rest back when you sell the car. The only question is are you selling the car when there is significant value, or are you selling it to the scrap yard. Since I do the latter depreciation and the up front price are essentially the same. But my personal self worth isn't tied to the value of the car I drive, in turn I can be seen in a reliable car that has rust, dents, and faded paint. This is my real world, not my fantasy world and I'm glad people like you exist who buy the cars when they are expensive then sell to me cheap.