This is easy....till it dies..period...end of subject.
Cars and trucks are meant to get you from point A to point B. Everything else is arbitrary.
I have always believed that you should buy your vehicle outright. The money you save on car payments, and more expensive insurance, will allow you to buy another vehicle when this one dies. You have to know when to say when. You do not toss $5000 to repair a car, when you can buy a nice used one for $8000 to $10000.
My experience has been that you want to buy diesels whenever possible. They are just plain tough. My old truck has a 6.2 diesel, and tons of miles, and it just keeps right on going.
If your buying a used car, it MUST be a Mercedes...period. Why? After a great deal of research, the one thing that came up over and over again, is that Mercedes owners take the best care of their cars. My 1990 300TE is of course 13 years old. The paint is near flawless. The engine has 165k on it and it runs perfect. It is clean, it does not leak any fluids. The upholstery is in excellent condition. ALL the electrical works, and I mean all. Mercedes owners take care of their cars.
I would tell anyone who asked....spend 10k on a used Mercedes before ever plunking down 15k-25k on some new car that is not nearly as good.
Just my 2 cents
