WTF should I buy (A consolidated list of bad decisions)

[JPolen01]

Also, her accident hosed the trade in / sales value of the CX5 so I'll be stuck with that one for a while.  We're not underwater on it, about break even, but I don't want to throw away the money I put down on it a year ago

Have you looked into filing a claim with your insurance company for the diminished value? A family friend (who happens to be a lawyer because of course) had his XF hit shortly after he purchased it. He took it to Carmax for an appraisal after repairs and then filed a claim with the insurance company. It wasn't an easy battle, but they ended up cutting him a check for the difference between what the car was worth before and after the accident.