I am buying a new car for the first time in 25 years, I looked at 2-3 year old models, but there is such a difference between them and the new one. I figured I might as well get all the bells and whistles in the new technology. I probably won’t ever buy another one, so I am treating myself.
All things considered, I got a good end-of-year deal and also bought a long-term service contract from the dealer which not only pays all basic service needs for many years, but also is transferable to my heir if I should croak first. Now, keeping the maintenance schedule is a breeze. They send me an email when it is time and I can make an appointment online. The car's dashboard even starts reminding me about 500 miles before time for the next checkup.
Paid cash and saved on interest as well; which will be fine unless we suddenly have a huge spike of inflation.