Toyota Corolla

The $3,000 rule for cars is a budgeting guideline that comes in two forms depending on whether you're buying a car with cash or financing one. For cash buyers it suggests that $3,000 is roughly the floor for buying a reliable used vehicle worth owning. For buyers financing a vehicle it suggests that $3,000 should be your minimum down payment before committing to a loan. Both versions of the rule are built around the same underlying principle: car ownership costs significantly more than the purchase price, and you need a financial buffer before you start...

Short answer: yes, usually. Facelifted cars tend to hold value better than the pre-facelift version of the same model, sometimes significantly better, and the reason has less to do with what changed under the hood and more to do with how the car looks. Research by EurotaxGlass's comparing used car values before and after mid-life facelifts found that updated exterior styling can improve residual values by up to 15 percent during the first year of ownership. The premium is highest for prestige brands where even subtle visual updates carry significant perceived value...

There are expensive cars everywhere. Most of them will be forgotten. The Porsche 911 will not be forgotten. Neither will the Ferrari Testarossa, the original Land Rover Defender, the Volkswagen Golf GTI, or the first-generation Mazda Miata. None of those last two cost anywhere near what most people think of as an iconic car's price. Expense has almost nothing to do with it...