I bought my car 8 years ago for $5000. To date, it cost me around $2000 in maintenance, and I give it $30 a month in gas. Car insurance and registration are roughly $500 a year. Add up all these costs, and on average I pay ~$150 a month to own and operate my car, and that's ignoring the fact I can probably still sell this car for $3000-5000.

Either the math on that website is way off, or a new car is truly the worst investment you can make in your life.

why would you think you could sell your car for $5k today when you paid the same 8 years ago?

Aren't they ignoring the fact that you will eventually own your car? Isn't a $100 a month for maintenance rather expensive?

With any Japanese car you should be able to hit 150k miles without too many issues nowadays.

Yes and yes. You shouldn't be making a monthly payment after 3yr and 1.2k/yr is a lot unless you drive a German car (same number of repair bills but higher dollar amounts) or are having so sideways much fun that you wear through a set of tires every year.

So OP should have said new car. You don't need a new car.