Bough my first car post-mission for $1200 (Geo Prizm), last me for 5 years.
Bought my 2nd car $8000 (Used Toyota Camry) and it lasted me 130,000 more miles and 9 years.
In the last 4 years I have seen my cars depreciate over $34K. . . and while I love my car, there is other stuff I would love more. I should have stuck with used cars.