The average cost of a car is wildly skewed by luxury models and the absurd prices of new cars.

Yep. And?

Its also reality.

Most used cars on the market are luxury cars that are 5 years or less old... because car companiea just largely stopped making non luxury cars.

This is what the used car market looks like right now, I don't care that its abnormal, I care about trying to evaluate you statement ... in reality, as it currently exists.

It's possible to save a few hundred bucks a month.

This is the idea you're not getting:

No.

Its not.

Not for half the population.

Pay is too low, costs of living are too high.

People largely cannot actually save a few hundred bucks a month, all that goes towards existing debt payments and increasing rent utilities and food costs... and fucking health insurance.

You don't understand how many people were operating on razor thin margins, and now, huge numbers of people are running net negative, getting stuck in some new poverty debt trap, maybe this time its chaining loans to keep buying groceries.

Your evaluation of what is possible is again, yes, technically possible, for a very small amount of people... but generally... it is laughably and wildly insufficient, useless to the vast majority of people it is potentially relevant to, because of how much the overall situation has changed, because of how out of touch you are with the basic parameters of the situation.

The US is a society where car ownership is mandatory to participate in society... and at least half of society cannot actually afford that expense, financed or not.

We need a systemic solution, otherwise, we will experience a systemic collapse.