I asked my wife the other day, "honey, do you know why the dual zone computerized climate control system in our Mustang will never break?"
"Why"
"Because it doesn't have one"...
I've owned lots of Benz's and 2 Beemers. After the warranty runs out you better have the money for the repair bills.
No question, the little details and quality of the German machines are better, but 1.) You pay for it in the beginning and 2.) You pay for the 60-way adjustable seat motor when it fails...
Makes sense. If a car costs 2x to buy, it's probably 2x for whatever part fails too, and could be 2x to have it put in as well.
But, if MONEY was the reason to select one car over another, I'd buy a 17 year old POS for $1k and drive it until it stopped, then go get another one. There is NEVER a way to justify ANY new vehicle on the basis of cost of ownership. Once you're accepted that it's fiscally idiotic to buy a new car, now we're down to how much "luxury" or "excess" or "indulgence" or "waste" we're ready for.