way to buy a car is to buy a decent used car in cash if possible, or finance it and pay it off quickly. Once it's paid off, run it into the ground before you buy another one. Most people don't do it that way. In fact, the average American keeps their cars for 3-5 years, while the average car loan is for a term of 60-72 months. So most people just recycle their car payments and never reap the rewards of driving a paid off vehicle. You'll find that most cars don't require more money to maintain than what a payment would have been.