Lots of us can "afford" a new car. Some of us realize that you can save $10K buy a two year old off lease car and get everything but the new car smell and a big loss in our "investment" over the next two years. Put that $10K into a real investment, it's $150K when you retire. Go ahead, you decide. If your money, and if you can as you say "afford to buy a new car" I'm sure you already have $2m in the bank for retirement anyway.
People who lease cars turn them in in 2 or 3 years. The don't turn them in because they're broken, they turn them in because the lease is up and they want another new car. In fact, most of these folks are very careful with their cars because they don't want to pay extra money to the leasing company at turn in. If you now something about cars, you start by looking at reliable makes, then you look for a car that's cosmetically perfect (it's been cared for) then you look at the mechanics and buy one that has no problems or abnormal wear. It's not hard.
Now, we could discuss the people who lease and turn in their car every three years. Not only do they need a "new" car, but they've been suckered in by the leasing people into believing that leasing a car is even better because you get an even pricier car for the same money per month. Salesmen have been "selling the monthly payment" for years and suckers buy in. Somehow I think most of the folks leasing could use a course in "managing your finances" too.
A car is a *depreciating* asset. The first two years incur *major* depreciation. It doesn't make sense to buy a highly depreciating asset at high cost when a lower depreciating asset at lower cost will do the same job.
YMMV, some people just gotta fill up that ego bank with a new car.
Bob