I've gotten burned on used cars badly enough that I'm willing to buy new.  I think the best outcome is a quality used car with low mileage, but that's actually hard to find, and there's some risk involved.  The best you can do is find a used car that <i>appears</i> to be quality.  I'm three times bitten, forever shy on that one.<p>A lot of people figure that the most predictable and low cost approach is to buy new and take good care of the car for at least a decade.  There's a big difference between a used car with low mileage that you've owned since the start, and one that you've test driven once or twice.<p>The worst approach from a financial pov is to buy new and sell every few years.  But buying a lemon of a used car and running up the maintenance bills sucks big time.