COLA is typically Cost of Living Adjustment or Cost of Living Allowance. It was slightly misused by the poster who referred to high COLA cities - but there is no common abbreviation COL.
On the topic, cars are like anything else. Each of us needs to fully understand the cost of our vehicles and the trade-offs involved in spending on a car versus other forms of transportation which may be more (or less) efficient, entertaining, safe, healthy and environmentally friendly. Do your homework and understand fully the total costs of owning and operating a vehicle.
The least financially offensive solution seems to be cars which "pay for themselves". I had a high school teacher who liked to buy older cars, fix them up in his spare time, and sell them for a profit. He drove some pretty fun cars: Jaguar, Lotus, Ferrari. I have friends at work who get up to $50,000/yr car allowance because of the payroll they are on (it is customary in some countries to provide cash or a lease arrangement). We didn't have a car for a year, but now have a company vehicle and an allowance to operate it which actually is enough to cover more than 100% of our in-country living expenses. We are actually living on the car allowance and banking the surplus; I stopped moving cash here from home. Wish I had that deal everywhere we lived.
I lived in Europe for three years and my employer provided a rental car via Avis: usually a VW or Peugeot diesel wagon. I didn't mind paying for gas at 42 mpg on the diesel engine but was not keen on paying for car washes at $15/trip. So, when I could no longer stand the grime (especially in winter) I would show up at Avis and tell them car was making a noise (which was true!) and they would give me a new, clean one.