Reply To: How important is it to you to have a Nice Car

Buy what you can afford. There is quite a difference between THIRTY and SIXTY thousand dollars.
It is generally a bad economic decision to sink substantial money into an asset that loses value quickly such as a car. You seem to put on too much mileage for leasing but want a car without the expense of repairs that comes with an old, cheap car. SO, buy a late model off-lease car. It will have been maintained while under lease, have a known service record and the former lessee will have suffered the bulk of depreciation in the first three years.