Yes I bought my Volvo new and I did not buy it for investment purposes. modern day automobiles are not investments, never have been, never will. buying a new car has always been "buy high" (when new) and "sell low"( trading in).
I think that for most people, who keep their cars for their full "useful life" of approx 7 years, resale value is not a concern. the only time I would be concerned about residual value is if I where to lease a vehicle, then I would be targeting a car that holds it's value better than other cars in the same market segment, otherwise, I couldn't care less, because it's only a loss if you trade in or sell the vehicle instead of retaining ownership and spreading the depreciation over a longer time span.

cars always take their biggest "hit" in depreciation in the first 3 years of ownership and then into the 4th and remaining years it plateaus. (as Phil illustrated in his excellent post, good job Phil.)

so the moral of the story is to hold on to your your car as long as you can.
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You will never leave where you are until you decide where you would rather be - 2002 V70 stk, /w /tinted windows