Ex-clunker driver here. Always drove 5-15 YO units. They served my hunting/camping/fishing hobbies nicely. For years, I lusted in my heart for a Honda Element. Found a used one. '07/90K miles/one owner/clean CarFax. I previously owned a CRV and it was a tank, so I figured same with the Element (same chassis and drive train).
I loved the Element
, but it refused to love me back
. Every couple of months, something significant would fail. After a year and a half, I had spent around the purchase price in a handful of repairs. I (rightly or wrongly) concluded that either the original owner beat the hell out of that vehicle; or, the speedometer cable was disconnected for the vast majority of miles driven.
Anyhoo, I traded it in on a new vehicle. It was hard to ignore the sunk cost, but I had every confidence that there were going to be more issues to come with "Christine." I'm also out of the used car business as my current fleet of 3 were all purchased new.