Yeah, things are changing. Certain vehicles; most Toyota's and Honda's along with the Wrangler hold value so much, that you may as well buy new. If you start calculating the cost per mile, any extra amount you pay by buying new washes out. Not to mention you get the put on the early miles so you know exactly how it was treated and you get to outfit it the way you want.I just looked at expected private party and trade-in values on my truck. In almost 10 years of ownership I've depreciated roughly $6500-$8000, depending. I've often made the argument here that if buying a non-luxury pickup or "real" SUV or Jeep, the "buy 3 years old so you don't eat the depreciation" common wisdom no longer really saves you much, if anything.
Even with that expectation, it's kind of nuts I've lost *at most* $800 a year in value to depreciation...but not as nuts as used Broncos are APPRECIATING right now. That won't last, but wow.