Learn to repair your own car, and when buying a car, estimate the cost of repairs over the remaining life of the vehicle.

I paid ~$10k for my car (Prius) when it had ~60k miles, and now it has ~140k miles after ~9 years, and I've paid ~$2k for repairs and maintenance. I do oil changes, replace spark plugs, brakes, and even replaced a coolant valve. It's not hard with YouTube at my side.

Had I taken it to the shop, I would've easily spent double that, perhaps triple. Had I bought new, I probably would've spent even more in depreciation (car was $25k new, so it would likely be <$10k by now).