That was always my mom's way....she'd save for several years, and we'd buy a used car and she'd drive it for almost a decade. She always said never to make payments because you end up paying so much more than the car is worth and you never OWN it. Which I see her point. But then we got a real lemon. When we bought it, the salesman said that they had just replaced the engine, so it was like getting a brand new car, but for the price of a used one. We had nothing but problems with that car. 2 years into driving it, we had to replace the engine again...it was completely shot. We thought it was a fluke. In the winter, all the locks on it would freeze. DH couldn't get his door closed, so he had to drive down the street with one hand holding the door closed until it warmed up enough that he could close it. My door wouldn't open from the inside, so I had to roll down the window and reach out to open it up....and then one day, the window was frozen shut and I had to wave frantically to a coworker who happened to be by the door at work to come out and open the door. One time I had to crawl out the window because it wouldn't open either inside or out. The dealership said it was a manufacturing issue with that make and model of car...then why didn't they recall it? Driving with only one hand because you have to hold your door closed is not safe! So, after another 2 years went by and the engine cratered AGAIN, it just wasn't worth it to repair. We had already put several thousand into repairs and it wasn't even WORTH 2 thousand by that time. We didn't want to get stuck paying more in repairs than a car was worth if there was a "manufacturing problem" so we started leasing. If there's a problem, it's not OUR problem, and we get a new one every 5 or 6 years....it's fantastic. SO much nicer than owning a car and having to worry every time something goes wrong how we're going to pay for it.