I’d actually prefer to not own a car at all. Since I work from home now, and walked to work before, I’d rather just not have one.
But I agree, the marginal value of nicer cars is questionable at best. The benefit of a Model 3 was mostly going to be tax rebates and access to the car pool lane for my wife in crowded Los Angeles.
It seems pretty impossible to go completely carless in Los Angeles. In somewhere like New York/Chicago/DC you could do it, but LA seems way to spread out to not have a car.
Cars are so expensive these days, but a $25k compact car is so nice, why pay another $20k for incrementally nicer car?
Keep your Mazda 3 for 10 years. It's a good car.