Would you spend you money on modest brand new car or rather buy top notch vintage one?

My cars are 31, 24, and 23 years old. SO MUCH CHEAPER to keep older cars!! For the difference in price of JUST ONE new car, vs 3 already paid for, I can keep all 3 going strong for another decade!

…..And, have money left over for great audio gear!!!

A vintage car is very different than a top notch used car...

And vintage audio equipment is very different than top notch used audio equipment.

For me it depends - I've bought new equipment and have bought used equipment.  I have a good relationship with my audio dealer and have bought demo and used items that were on my 'some day' list including speakers, record cleaner and audio rack.

Used or refurbished works well in my experience. It all depends on the source. Music room or Safe and Sound are excellent sources. 

I have a buddy who is into vintage muscle cars. I have heard his horror stories about breakdowns. In my vehicles as well as my stereo system I want reliability. I have had friends over for a listening session and had something go on the fritz and ruin a great time.Having learned the hard way, I have built redundancy into my system so if anything goes down except for my speakers, I can quickly get us up and running again.
So let’s tackle your question directly. I have no problem buying used gear with some caveats. I will never buy a used phono cartridge. I will not buy speakers or amps more than 10 years old unless the capacitors have been recently replaced. Digital gear is changing so fast that last years best might not have the performance of the latest and greatest. You really have to look at the price. Something less than five years old at 50% off the original msrp I would consider. Same goes for speakers.Cables are in a different category all together. I have been delighted by some of the used cables I have purchased at terrific discounts.

This does not make much sense to me because vintage cars can be a multiple of a new model, assuming the marque still exists. In audio, some vintage equipment is highly prized and quite expensive- think WE anything, EMT tables, Studer mastering decks, vintage big horn studio monitors, etc.

What are we trying to focus on?- I was able to build systems more cost effectively in the period 1970 to say, the oughts of 2000 via used equipment. Once we got the supply chain whammy, no chips, existing equipment that you could get NOW became more expensive. I don’t think you can generalize- a specific piece of gear may be a grail or a trip to the dump. Ditto, certain cars. Old isn’t always good, but some history there too.

What are you really asking?