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?
I think the two shocks from covid and subsequent "return to normal" probably had a bigger effect. On the one end there's fewer cars that entered the used market and the ones that did had a higher sticker price, followed by a sudden spike in demand.