With ever increasing prices and longer terms to try and make it affordable I don't ever see it happening. We have only purchased 1 new car and leased maybe 4-5.
A lease in the future may be an option but not a purchase.

Closest I've come to a new car is one lease...current lease was 6 month used by the dealer.

Our novated leases have you buying out at the end, not hand back and go again

I won't.

Barring a major financial disaster, yes.
Even my frugal wife likes to buy new cars, although she keeps hers longer than I keep mine and is still in a 2006. I am actually creeping up on her mileage in that '06 with my '14...
I guess the big question for us is if we will keep paying cash for our new rides.

Why not? There are some very good deals on leftovers. Locally, a Nissan Altima can be had for $18K. Good car, good price.

Yes, I will.
I prefer to buy new, one year old, at the end of the calendar year.
It somewhat limits my choices, but I have generally been able to negotiate the price close to used value.
When I bought the Accord in my signature, I negotiated the vehicle down to $100. difference between what I paid and KBB used value because of heavy dealer incentives on the vehicle.
I then drive them to oblivion. The predecessor to the Accord was 13 years old and had over 275K on it.
I'd rather have new, full factory warranty, and make my own used cars.

Well even that car on a 5 year note is over $ 300 a month. Most popular vehicles now are 10,000 or more higher in price.

Leasing one new car in the household seems like the best for me. It allows me to keep the mileage down on the older cars. If I were to BUY a new vehicle, it would be a leftover to get the deepest discount.

Yes. I like cars that a typical consumer avoids - manuals, weird option combos, colors, etc. So, the cars I gravitate towards are tough to find on the used market.

For instance, we bought a new 4Runner back in October - I could find only two on dealer lots within 500 miles that had the color and option combination that we wanted. I did find a used one with only 10k miles, but the used price was within $1k of a new one.

Previous to that, we bought a VW Passat TDI in 2013. We wanted it in manual with a certain color combination. We found that it was basically a unicorn. We ended up having a dealer order one for us, and it worked out great.

I also live in an area where dealers are super competitive on price. So, you can usually work a very good deal on a new vehicle.

Cars last a lot longer than 5 years, I have a 15 year old car. Sure the loan payments are uncomfortable for some. Driving is not free, never has been. On a cost per mile basis, a well purchased new car competes very favorably.

It has to be something rather special.

Not planning to but I have to admit that special ordering the 2016 Outback and getting exactly what I wanted was really cool. Dealer treats you like royalty and no I did not pay MSR.

Ever increasing prices???? I think you'll find if you adjust for inflation you get much more bang for the buck in today's cars. My '99 Contour stickered for $17k, which is around $25k today. A Focus (same size car) that stickers for $25k today will give you MANY more features than were in my Contour (which was a base car with the V6 but no better performance than today's Focus).

People focus on the "note" with new cars. You need to instead focus on depreciation. After the 1st year hit, depreciation is pretty much straight line from 1-10 years of age then it levels off at some nominal value. Unless you keep the car for longer than 10 years, you're not paying that much more in depreciation over the long term buying new over used. Especially if you search for the killer deal on the new car, which I always do, and which minimizes that 1st year hit.

I guess it all boils down to if I NEED a new vehicle on top of actually wanting that particular model. Most new cars produced today are just not desirable to me. And I visit pretty much all local new car shows every year, window shop at dealerships and follow most major auto news outlets to get specs on all the latest models.

I'm almost done paying off my 2014 Mazda 3. The car will have maybe 75k on it. Still mint condition, Still Love driving it, still gets the job done @ 40mpg highway. 42-45mpg if I try hard.

I also think the used car market is absolutely packed right now with amazing vehicles from the early to mid 2000's that weren't affordable before ($100,000 Benz for example) that now cost the same as a new Civic. I personally would take a chance on a well maintained used car as a better bang for the buck (you're driving a $100,000 car vs a 30k new model, even if it's the latest rage)

I don't intend to buy anything but new cars as my daily driver going forward. My wife and I make enough money and really new cars aren't that expensive. You can get a new Camry or Accord for like $25K. New and used trucks though are outrageous.