[greglepore]

My cars are all over 21 with the exception of the Cayenne, which has 180k on it. There's just no way I'd take the depreciation hit on a new vehicle, and buying them old means that the achilles heels are known and can be avoided. Imagine if you bought a new 6.4 Ford diesel at $70k in the mid teens-they're time bombs, a very large percentage have grenaded motors, and its usually not fixable. The 5 liter n54 and n63 BMW's, same.
Yes, parts are an issue for the Euros. MB used to produce parts forever, but the 90's cars are complex enough you can't realistically expect that. I just sold the s600 in part because of this.
I think though we're on the other side of the curve. The reliance on small displacement heavily stressed engines with turbo heat is going to reduce longevity and reliability.
Honestly, I'd rather have my old Cayenne than a new one. Off warranty they're stupid expensive to fix and seem more trouble prone. Porsche fixed a lot of the issues of the first gen by the time the 957 rolled around, but given the current climate I don't see them sticking with something and refining it. I'm also not a fan of the video console look of many modern interiors, but that's a grumpy old man thing.