Vehicles under $15k are 1.6% of the market, and their share of the market has dropped over 90% since 2019. The old advice that you can get a beater and drive it in to the ground for $5k hasn’t been true for years but it still seems pervasive in personal finance spaces.
The used car market is being strongly manipulated by the banks. Their inventory of repossessions has skyrocketed over the past few years, but they are limiting how many are going to auction so not to destroy the market and their margins. I’ve heard rumblings that with the push for EVs and their costs, carmakers are going to make them a service. You pay a monthly fee to use them and every few years you will get a new one. You will never own one outright. Who knows if this is true or not.