Once you pay off a car, you can trade that car, every 3 to 5 years and keep a affordable car payment. That used to be my philosophy. Now cars last up to and beyond 200,000 miles, so I have decided to buy a new one or very late model, take care of it and keep them and run them payment free, until they die and start over and run another cycle of 10 to 15 years. What I find incrediable are the number of stupid people who keep trading a car upside down. My sisterinlaw bought a new car and actually said the car dealer paid off her last car and put her in a new car. I was going to try to explain it to her, but hey, why rain on her brilliance.