I am not sure most can afford a $50K vehicle.
There are zero decent used vehicles around here for $4K to $6K. A friend recently lucked out by finding a decent 2013 Corolla S with 160K for $9,800 private party. That's as good as it gets.
For some reason the Toyota Corolla/Camry's and the Honda Civic/Honda Accord are really expensive as used cars.
But the Toyota and Honda minivans are really cheap, and have the 8th seat, and full luxury for a much cheaper price than the smaller 4 door sedans.
By affording a 50k vehicle, many of us could qualify for a loan or pay all cash, but most of us shouldn't as it would be a catastrophic long term financial decision. Also, the reliability of cars seems to have gone down from what I'm seeing. The fuel dilution seems to be a very scary issue, as it thins already thin oil to a point where it may not sufficiently protect an engine.
Also, when visiting a Honda Dealership recently for a sliding door repair, while waiting for the repair to be done, I went into the new car area and sat in some new cars. I really didn't like the styling. Glove boxes and storage compartments under radio were too small. Seats were not comfortable. Driving view was awkward. Visors left huge gaps where the sun would be in your eyes. Leather was not soft and silky smooth like my older Honda Odysseys, but instead was rough and cheap feeling. The backs of the leather seats weren't leather but some cheap fabric. Carpeting seemed thinner. Cars seemed cheaper made, with cheaper dashboards plastics which from what I've read tend to rattle in an annoying fashion while driving. And with very high price tags, was thinking I would be a fool to ever buy a newer car that is so cheaply made with inferior materials for $30k, $40k, $50k.
One other advantage to having older cars is the risk of car theft/car jacking goes down virtually to 0.
So for example, if you bought a brand new Ford F150 or Honda Accord, you and your car will really be a target.
But if you have a 16 year old one, doubt if any thieves will have any interest. Also, you can get the cheap insurance and not worry.
The used car market has plenty of lemons and oil burners. Once you find a good used car, it's a good idea to keep it for the long term and not sell it (in my opinion). The other thing I've noticed is that in the last few years, new car dealers service and parts departments have gotten incredibly greedy. While on a vacation in Florida, I had to stop at a Honda dealer and their labor rate was $199 an hour.
I had a cv axel gasket leak, which is a $7 part and about an hour labor to replace. They charged me $500+tax.
Their book (which they wrote) specified it was a 2.5 hour job, but my local mechanic when I got home from the vacation said he could have done that job in less than an hour and probably would have charged me $80 labor instead of $500.
