> I think one of the issues is that the average price of cars has risen so much.
IMO, what explains the higher price is because reliability is so much better than 20 years ago. 100k miles is so cake that no one brags about reaching 100k miles anymore. In fact, most people today are bragging about "oil-change + tire maintenance only for 100k miles".
Its completely reasonable to buy a car with 100k miles on it, and hope for it to last another 100k miles on top of it (or ~7 years or so, depending on driving habits).
In effect, a 5-year old car today is approximately worth the same a brand-new car from the 90s. You're gonna get +100k miles off of it and not have to worry too much about maintenance issues.
IMO, what explains the higher price is because reliability is so much better than 20 years ago. 100k miles is so cake that no one brags about reaching 100k miles anymore. In fact, most people today are bragging about "oil-change + tire maintenance only for 100k miles".
Its completely reasonable to buy a car with 100k miles on it, and hope for it to last another 100k miles on top of it (or ~7 years or so, depending on driving habits).
In effect, a 5-year old car today is approximately worth the same a brand-new car from the 90s. You're gonna get +100k miles off of it and not have to worry too much about maintenance issues.