The Sam Vimes “Boots” theory of socioeconomic unfairness, often called simply the boots theory, is an economic theory that people in poverty have to buy cheap and subpar products that need to be replaced repeatedly, proving more expensive in the long run than more expensive items.
This depends on your idea of “used”," new", and your means when it comes to car repair.
A used car with 5k miles is a fundamentally different buying equation from one with 150k miles.
A 5k mile car makes sense if you’re getting far enough below sticker to cover the higher interest rate and lack of warranty, because you still have 145k miles before things start going wrong.
A 150k mile car makes sense if you’re saving enough to cover the higher interest and the fact that you’re probably going to have to budget a couple hundred a month for maintenance, because things will go wrong pretty immediately. Unless it’s a Toyota, in which case who the fuck even knows?