<prompt> Human: Let me try to explain this strategy: in a nutshell, youre buying a car that has just completed its initial value drop after being driven off the lot roughly 1 year or so out of model year, then you hold it for about 2 years as you enjoy a supposed statistically-supported and relatively slow decline in value, after which time you trade it in for another car thats just completed its initial price plunge and just before another statistical price plunge that happens from 3-6 years out of model year, and the cycle starts again. Keep repeating until youve slowly reduced your overall car note value to the point where your spread between the two cars is so small that youre always driving a relatively new car for a small amount of money just a couple thousand dollars in a lot of cases. You get the benefit of never paying that much in taxes, as you only pay the difference in value between the cars youre trading, plus your car is always under factory warranty while you do this. In Chicago, where I live, taxes are over 10, so that is a significant savings. Another soft benefit is that you always have the latest technology and get cool bells and whistles like the latest app integration with the radio, etc. But does this make sense in the long run, or am I wasting hard earned money? Heres the stats of 3 burn and turns from the beginning:2012 Dodge Charger SXT purchased in 2013 - paid 22,500. This was the first car as part of the burn and turn strategy.2014 Chevy Camaro 2LT purchased in 2015 - paid 25,000, received 18,000 for 2012 Charger trade-in my note was paid down to 14,500 at this point, so I applied 3500 to my purchase, which I felt was pretty good considering this car had a long scratch down 1 side across 3 panels from some metal sign going airborne in a winter storm only weeks before my trade!2017 Jeep Cherokee Trailhawk purchased NEW in 2017 - paid 34,400, received 16,500 for 2014 Camaro trade-in this is pretty near break-even for my loan paydown, but I got hammered by these assholes because there was significant repainting to be done pretty much all around the car on the Camaro due to idiots hitting my car while it was parked, plus the Jeep dealership had pretty much the only fully-loaded Trailhawks in the Chicago region for some reason, so I was forced to bargain with only them Note: the reason I went NEW vs. 1 year out of model year was the relative increase in price vs. the 2016s was so small, it made more sense to buy new vs. comparable 2016s.All loans are 72 months I cant afford to go 60mo., and financed through Chase at a rate for all of them around 3.5. Insurance costs me around 90month. As you can see, Im slowly trading up in value, and hoping to plateau right around where Im at now 35,000 range. These payments are now about 510mo. and that feels like a lot. If I do well on this next trade, I can hopefully get positive cash flow and Ill start slowly lowering the payments and eventually my notes will be very small years down the line. But would I just be better off paying down my loan for 4 more years and keeping this car for a while?? This really is costing a shitload of money. I drove beaters around my whole life, hated dealing with mechanics all the time, bringing in a car occasionally and having to spend 2,000 because some major component failed. Now I make more money and have a reliable car for my family and never worry about breakdowns, etc. But I dont want to throw away hard-earned dollars either, looking at the long-term picture! If you have to own a car, whats the smart play!?  <response>: You are wasting money, transaction costs for cars isnt just tax and depreciation in later years is lower than in earlier years. You will end up paying much more than if you just paid your first car off. 