No one expects that resale value to go up. No one suggests that the government creates programs to prop up that resale value. People understand that owning a car gives them value and they are fine paying the difference between the purchase price and the resale price for that value. Why should homeownership be different? Why should homeownership not just be free but profitable? It makes no sense other than homeowners were told it was true, demand it be true into the future, and they (now joined by institutional investors) are a powerful voting block.

> No one expects that resale value to go up.

Except until you have a chip supply crunch, and used cars are selling higher than their original buying price.

Look at what people actually do, not what they say for cheap virtue points online.

Reliability is way, way down the wish-list. People don't really consider it until all the other key features they want are very solidly satisfied. And even then the take rate is maybe 50%. For every jerk in a 4Runner or Pilot there's an equal and opposite jerk in a Landrover or Tiguan.

The people in Landrovers care less about losing money than the people in Honda Pilots, because they have a lot more of it to spare. I'm not sure they're comparable consumers for this reason.

Cars, especially in the first few years, are extremely reliable. So a less reliable new car is still amazing when compared to a 15 year old beater.

There's two groups of people I can think of that do this:

- People who like to frequently change cars, not so frequent as to lease but still prefers to let it go between 50-100KMi. (Contrast folks who sell past 100k or drive cars into the ground, they care more about long term repair cost.)

- People who are using resale value as a proxy for reliability.

I suppose 'lease-e' may fall into this category, also by proxy (as high resale value means lower depreciation, lower lease cost.)

I look for something that fits my mission needs and assume I’ll drive it until the wheels fall off.

However I’m likely not to be representative.