Seriously, I've spent like an hour searching and there appear to be absolutely no used cars in the US or Canada priced at or under $500. In fact, they're not even really close. I can only find a handful of cars under $1000, and they all seem to be parts cars that have major issues that are insurmountable for all but experienced mechanics who happen to have a spare engine laying around.
Am I just searching in the wrong places or what? Where have all the cheap-ass cars gone in this car-mandatory society?
The same reason why it's rare to ever find interesting stuff at yard sales, thrift stores, and flea markets anymore. The internet and that nearly everyone having a phone has made people a lot more aware of what they have, and if not that the existence of flippers. People who make it their life mission to be as close to a leech on society as landlords are. What they do more often than not is find someone who doesn't know what they have, buy it off them, then fix any minor issues, then flip it for a lot more than they paid and put into it.