One thing that keeps me driving an older car (2002 Honda Accord) is the greatly increased total cost of ownership of newer vehicles. Whenever something needs replaced -- windshield, tires, whatever -- it's often dirt cheap, and the car itself is extremely reliable. On the other hand, my wife's newer Mazda seems to be a perpetual money sink. Everything is so much more expensive to replace. The windshield has special sensors, so it was super expensive to replace. Tires are a lot more expensive. (A nail impact that was just right to destroy the tire cost us close to $1000, but I guess a lot of that is admittedly due to the AWD requiring replacement of all tires.) For these newer cars, the initial cost seems to be a much smaller part of the TCO.

I agree with the safety concerns others have mentioned about older cars, and I would gladly pay more for safety. But I do feel a bit frustrated when getting the safety also requires a huge TCO increase for frivolous features. (E.g., are the automatic windshield wipers really worth the 4x cost bump at the glass shop?)