In the 1990’s you could look in the Uncle Henry’s and get a decent used car for like $300. you’d register it, and it would last you a few years until it was too expensive to fix, (or it wouldn’t pass state inspection) then you’d move on. In the early 2000’s you could look on craigslist and find a decent used car for $500. Same deal. But by the time the housing bubble burst, I came to the realization that whatever the price of the car was, it would cost you $3,000 at the end of the day just to get it up and running. By the end of the 20 Teens, that number was $5k, and side of the road sales were junk that the seller knew was about to be REALLY EXPENSIVE to fix so wanted out from under it. These days, don’t buy used from a private seller unless it’s a collectable: the car is a money pit and they know it. This is one of those things where the auto industry enshittified to kill the resale market. Now they are starting subscriptions for features you used to get as standard. the infuriating thing is that the tech exists to build a car that will last 30-40 years, little major maintenance, but “it’s not profitable,” so they won’t.
Sadly toyotas and Hondas are outliers in this area. Owned A 15’ Venza until it got t boned this winter. still a bit cheezed about that. GREAT car, BTW. 110% recommend if you find a used one with low miles.