I’ve never bought a new car in my life.
At home in Puerto Rico, I drive a 2006 Lexus GX470 (with 158k miles) which I bought used in Florida a couple years ago for about $12500, paid $1500 and $2000 in taxes to import to Puerto Rico, and have now paid about $5000 (ouch; $3500 of that was ABS) in maintenance to keep on the road for the ~5k miles I’ve driven it in a year or two. It’s a pretty ideal car for Puerto Rico — great on bad roads, will “win” in any crash, reasonable cargo capacity, the 10-12mpg doesn’t matter when I drive about 100 miles a month, and adequate for off-roading. The 40% import duty on non-PHEV/non-battery vehicles in Puerto Rico definitely pushed me to get the cheapest car I could comfortably get — even a 5 year old SUV which has really depreciated from $60k to $30k is going to be taxed at about 40% of $45-50k.
(Incidentally, currently renting a 2021 Toyota 4Runner SR5; didn’t realize how much more I like even an old GX470 over it. I think a lot of it is the air suspension in the old Lexus, but I just like the overall vehicle so much better, too.)
Closest to new was a 2006 Lincoln LS ($45k sticker) which I bought in Dubai right after they were discontinued, with 300 miles on it (return from whoever had bought it), with a random Thuraya satphone handset found under the seat as well, for $21500. Next best was a CPO Audi A4 (2006) which I bought in 2008 for about $28k. Other than that, a bunch of cheap old BMW 5-series E34s, light pickups, etc. in Iraq, and a $500 Toyota Corolla 1991 which I got in…2003? with 160k miles on it, put another 30k miles on, and then had it catch on fire while I was driving on the I-5 on Easter.
I put a deposit on a Model 3 at the Tesla factory in Fremont, CA right as they’d opened (I was ~50th in line). I also put a deposit in on a Model Y. Neither of these is really a good enough car for me in Puerto Rico, though — I’d want a little bit more off-road/rough road capability, and would be always on edge about minor collisions or other damage on a “new” car, especially something fairly lightly built with expensive parts.
The cybertruck, on paper, seems ideal. Battery, so no tax, and more than adequate range and cargo capacity. The width of the vehicle is a little excessive — 80” (same as an F-150, etc.), vs. 74” for the GX470, which will make driving in VSJ and some other neighborhoods a lot worse, but it’s probably tolerable, especially with 360 camera. The robust metal body and panels are attractive, and compared to any other Tesla, it looks pretty durable. Mechanical reliability is a bigger concern, but Puerto Rico has a service center now, and I’d be keeping my GX470 as a backup vehicle anyway.
There’s an interesting podcast episode with the Tesla chief designer including a lot of content about the Cybertruck:
Plenty of other PHEV or BEV SUVs entering the market, as well as potentially now available in recent (2018+) model years. (Back when I bought mine, there were very few options; basically a bad initial Mercedes SUV and new/expensive Volvos). Now we have the Toyota Rav4 Prime, various Volvos, a Porsche SUV, etc. A PHEV would have the ideal functionality for me (zero tax, some battery range, and operation independent of plug-in). I don’t feel a huge need to buy nicer car just to have a nicer car (although I would like to install the replacement head unit and 360 camera system into my GX470), but the crash safety of a 2020s car vs. a 2006 car is a factor; a 5% chance of a serious traffic accident over the target period, and the newer car probably reduces the overall risk of accident and severity of injury from accident by a reasonable amount.
Not in a rush to get a new car, but if I had to replace mine today, I’d probably just rent for the rest of the year and take an early Cybertruck. Otherwise hoping to take delivery of one in 2024 or 2025 after initial issues are resolved, or maybe a Rivian or some other electric vehicle. Having a house with solar, battery or other storage, maybe some hydro or wind, and diesel generator as backup (and A+B systems so there’s no single point of failure) as a place to charge, and then all smaller vehicles run from electricity, rather than liquid fuels, would be pretty liberating.