In certain cases I do. Let me caveat this by saying I dont expect to ever get my payments back and I dont buy cars as investments and I know they will always depreciate. But you can limit the damage.

My wife drives about 10,000 miles a year. We bought an 00 honda CRV in 2000, put $2,500 down and took a 5 year loan. We liked the 02 a lot more when it came out. Sold our 00 with 17,000 miles on it and ended up with $4,000 after paying off the loan. Put the 4k on the 02 and away we go. Now its 04, want a bigger vehicle. Sold the 02 CRV after 2 years with 18,500 miles on it, had about $5,200 left after paying the loan and put that down on an 04 Pilot. Simple fact is, the honda SUVs we bought didnt depreciate like rocks so when I wanted something else in 2 years, I didnt end up owing $20,000 on a truck that I could only sell for $12,000.

Friend of mine bought a 2000 Dodge Intrepid. 2 years later he needed a minivan but could only sell the Intrepid for $4,000 less than what he owed. He bought the minivan and added the negative equity to the van loan. Now the van is worth less than what he paid plus the 4k negative equity means he wont be buying anything anytime soon.

Me I drive about 35,000 miles a year. I keep a car 4-5 years until I hit bout 150-200k. Therefore I need a car that doesnt really hold its value so I can buy something as new as I can as cheaply as I can because lets face it, its going to get pounded into the ground. The GTP is perfect. its a great car, durable, comfortable and will run 200k with little problem. The bonus FOR ME is that you can get them 2-3 years later for half of what they sold for. NOT good for GM, but Good for me. the only thing I fear is getting in a mild accident where the damage isnt that bad but exceeds the value of the vehicle. Id cry if my GTP got totaled just because of a little front end damage.

personally I wish GM cars held their value, I love em and Id love to see the big 3 on top of the world again. Hopefully they will continue improving their interiors and learn to make better and bolder changes/designs to their cars. Maybe by 2010 Ill be buying an accord for work and a Caddy SRX for home.