gizmo I see and agree with your point, but...
Say in the 4th year I am faced with a hefty repair, I have already saved 3k in charges and interest payments. Also as far as I know the 300c has one of the cheapest extended dealer warranties in the Chrysler range (I could be wrong).
Now say I decide to change my car. I simply put the car up for sale and take whatever the going rate is. Even if I get 2K for it at the end of year 4 I still walk away with a saving of 3K on interest/charges and 2K in my pocket leaving me with a nice 5K to use as a deposit on my next 300c.
I guess the reason I like this option better is because I hate finance and if I do have to take it I go for the quickest repayment possible, in this case 3-4 years.
I even sold my 7er to pump the cash into a new house because I didn't like the silly amount of money the banks were throwing at you 2 years ago! The way I saw it was if I sold the 7er and put the cash into the house then the interest savings I'd make over the course of the mortgage will far out weigh having to drive the wee Micra for a year. Turns out I got used to the Micra and have been driving it for almost 2 years and I'm keeping it. The 300C will be a weekend driver, unless it's sunny - then the Z4 gets some top down action
Don't get me wrong, as I said I do agree with your system and I know a lot of people who do the same thing. I think I'm probably the odd one out, but I like my way for me. I just wanted to let folks know where I was coming from.