Oh it's been like that always for me. Newest car I ever got was 3 years old. Half the price depreciated away already, but minus some rock chips on the hood, it was completely mint. Would still be driving it if my ex hadn't gotten me into debt that made me get rid of it. But that was not in the Range Rover price range. Those I'd be looking at 14-15 years old, to get the last years of the L322 body type. Rustier than the L405 due to the steel body, but so god damn great looking.

I've done almost everything myself, including one engine replacement (admittedly with a bunch of help from my grandfather for that one, but I think the next one I could manage without him, since he's no longer available). More recently, I took apart the bottom end of my 6HP transmission that was no longer going into gear, dropped the mechatronic unit, replaced the sleeve seals, new filter and fluid, and it's started shifting better than when I got the car a bit less than a year ago. 200€ and a few days (I first opened it up without ordering the fluid or parts as I wanted to make sure there was no metal debris in the pan), versus several thousand for a professional transmission diagnosis and repair, on a car not worth several thousand.

I actually make an hourly rate that, if I worked full time (and there is plenty of work available if I wanted to), I could lease myself a brand new whatever as a company car, and at times it's tempting, but I do still enjoy getting my knuckles bloody and my clothes oily. No feeling quite like having a depreciated luxury car develop what would be a ridiculously expensive fault to repair at a dealer, getting it done for a tenth of the cost if not less, and going on that first test drive where everything works perfectly again. The freedom of not having a monthly payment to worry about and knowing that I can get by on 40-50 hours of billed work per month if I need to, is liberating after slaving away so my ex-wife could piss it all away as soon as I earned it.