The latter figure sounds almost affordable – relative to the former figure.

Used car prices are of course tied to the prices paid for new cars. A new car that cost $52k when it was new will lose about $20k of its original purchase price in depreciation over just a couple of years; hence the $30k used car. When new cars sold for $30k, after three or four years, there were used cars available for $15k or so. Relatively new, low-mileage used cars. In other words used cars that weren't high-miles, ten-plus-year-old beaters. Which is what the same money buys today.

A personal example will perhaps serve to make the point. Back in 2007, I bought my 2002 Nissan Frontier for $7,500 – which was about half what it stickered for when it was new five years prior. So it was only about five years old when I bought it and had about 50,000 miles. It looked new and it functioned as-new, since 50,000 miles on a vehicle made in the early-mid 2000s is something like a 25-year-old person in that life is only just beginning. I still have the '02 Frontier and drive it regularly. I was able to pay cash for it back in '07 because $7,500 isn't really that much money, in terms of buying vehicles. It used to be pretty commonplace for people – not just rich people – to pay cash for a good used vehicle, like my '02 Frontier was back in 2007. Today, something comparable – in comparable condition – would cost as much as a brand-new Frontier cost in 2002 because there is nothing available that's new like my old Frontier that costs less than around $32k brand-new.

Have you checked out what used late-model Frontiers and Tacomas and Rangers are selling for?

What I spent to buy my '02 Frontier used in '07 with low miles and in excellent condition and only five years old would perhaps get you something comparable to what my '02 Frontier is today – which is 25 years old (almost) and with another 100,000 miles on the odometer. That's low miles for a 25-year-old truck and mine still looks pretty good and everything still works, which is why it's still worth about to-thirds what I paid for it back in '07.

But I hope I have made my point.

It takes more like $10k on the low end and realistically more to get a used vehicle in 2026 that isn't a beater; i.e., one that can be driven as it is, that probably isn't going to need major repairs right away. This puts people who are not pretty affluent (only pretty affluent people can generally come up with $10-15k in cash to buy a good used vehicle) or pretty handy with a wrench in a spot. Those with fix 'em-up skills can still buy beaters that need a new clutch or transmission or major brake work and get them fixed and roadworthy again for manageable money. But people who haven't got fix 'em up skills – or the money to buy a good used car that isn't going to need fixing up – will probably have to get a loan to buy a decent used car.