I've been looking at new cars recently, and have to say that there's no way I would consider buying a BMW, or pretty much any car that isn't Japanese. The two- and three-year old used 3-series and Mercedes that I looked at seemed totally ragged, next to the condition of a used Lexus or even a Mazda.

I could spend $40k on a 3-series, or half of that on a used Lexus, or a quarter of that on a used Mazda 3.