[AlteBMW]

Buying a BMW (or similar) is not just about the financial part. It is an emotional decision too. If you are like me, you take enormous pleasure from owning and driving a well-designed car. If you are "investing" $70,000 or more on a car, seems to me the "return" on investment is never going to be financial because you are buying a depreciating asset. The return is whether you get personal enjoyment owning and driving it and that cannot be quantified. The purchase (or lease) you have made is not interest-bearing or going to appreciate but pays other dividends. This is so even as we carp about "deficiencies" and "design mistakes" because there is no car out there that is perfect.

If finances are the issue, you can buy a Toyota and run it for 200,000 miles and keep more money in the bank even if you spent on maintenance and repairs. The longer you can keep it the better off you wiil be financially. But will you be smiling about your car for the 15 years it takes for it to complete its useful life? Maybe if you are a wrencher and get pleasure out of repairs/rebuilds, etc. (in which case you'd save even more) but that is a small minority.