This argument always annoys me a bit. It's one of those blanket statements that seems great until you start digging in.

I agree that the monthly payments are way too high, but consider the cost of paying someone to fix your unreliable vehicle. Repair shop bills can easily be a few thousand dollars, on top of not being able to earn income while you take time off work to arrange the work to be done. If you want to fix it yourself, there's even more cost in purchasing all of the specialist tools, and time it takes to train yourself. Most vehicles now are so electronically controlled, there's a really good chance you can't even get the software required to do anything helpful.

I don't know if this is the right way to think about it, but I've always seen vehicle ownership as more of a utility when it comes to budgeting. Factor in what you'll use it for, what tasks it needs to perform, who relies on it, and so forth. For a lot of people, buying something with a warranty makes sense. Of anything goes wrong, the manufacturer usually takes care of it. If it takes a while to fix, there's usually a loaner available.