It's awful. I'm in the market for a used car, and 20 year old cars I could get 5 years ago for $5k cash are now $15k+. Like what the fuck.

Burgerland has fallen.

i drive a 23 year old, extremely common and reliable gas-sipping model that i got very cheap through family about 13 years ago. i keep it on a tight maintenance schedule and generally baby it. i don't drive much or far, so it's still barely broken in. i have "drive all over" friends that have more miles on their cars which are 15 years younger than mine. sure, i've had plenty of repairs over the decade, but they've all been worth it compared to the alternative. i've had the chilton's manual for it since i got it, have done very basic repairs myself, and can usually troubleshoot problems to know what's failed before i bring it to my mechanic.

cars are an absolute money sink, especially when going through the stealership channels. everything is a piece of shit anymore with $10,000 of unnecessary, marked-up computer shit in the console. i swear to god, if i had to get another vehicle right now, i would be doing some kind of canadian grey market import / 25-year-dispensation move and looking for some tiny diesel from wherever-the-fuck i could keep running with chicken wire and duck tape. or some kind of gangfucked used fleet vehicle with a salvage title at auction. we are such a captive market... the US sucks ass for cars, and i'll be goddamned if i'm going to play it straight.