The malaise era of the 1970s-80s was over. Designs lost a lot of the boxiness and started to get downright curvy. I remember when economy cars from Japan and even the US "Big 3" started to get reliable enough to routinely exceed 200,000 miles (320,000 km) while safety and fuel economy improved. My mid-90s Dodge Neon with a manual got about 35 mpg with mixed city and highway driving even when I got it as a used beater with a heater.
All the makes still sold sedans, and there were still a lot of station wagons. The "Crossover SUV" wasn't really a thing yet, and small SUVs had real off-road capability. I remember when the Chevy Suburban seemed huge in the late 80s and into the 90s. Now it's a dainty little thing compared to the average new "half-ton" pickup.
And those prices... A brand-new 1994 Ford Ranger with a long bed was about $10,000. That got a simple rear-wheel drive two-door truck. Power was low by modern standards at 98 horse from a 2.3L I4, but that was still enough to get the job done when the truck weighed under 3,000 pounds, and you could still expect 20+ mpg. You could get short beds, long beds, four-wheel drive, towing packages, sport packages, and more.
Fast forward to 2024, and it costs $34,000 for the base model. You can only choose a 4-door short-box model. It now weights about 4400 pounds, and while it has 270 horsepower, it still gets... 22 mpg average. The new technology is better, but the utility is worse. That's just basic facts. The old truck is still considered reliable, and if anything wears out, it can be fixed, often by yourself with basic tools.
The auto industry is being regulated to death, and as always, it's backfiring with unintended consequences. Cars are bigger, but are they really better? Technology for the sake of technology often means weak points that will become obsolete and prevent repairability. The '90s still had mechanical and electro-mechanical systems that didn't suffer software bugs or need regular updates.
Cars did peak in the 1990s and early 2000s, and we may never see that again. Welcome back to the dystopia of bureaucratic malaise, just with more computer screens than we had in the 1970s.
Probably the best car value for my money I ever had was a '98 Hyundai Accent. A little underpowered, but the mileage rocked, it had relatively few maintenance issues, and survived hitting a deer AND a moose.
I don't expect I'll ever get that value for my money on a car again. Our family car is about 14 years old, and as long as it keeps working I'm not interested in replacing it. And if I did, depending on where we live I might opt for a Tesla. Not because I think electric vehicles will save the planet, but rather for the flexibility in times of gas supply disruptions, overall lower maintenance costs & headaches, and to have the future capability of Full Self Driving. And I admit when I did drive a Tesla I liked the experience.
Interestingly, in Mongolia where we live now, the cheapest and most common car is actually the used Toyota Prius. They import them used from Japan, and I assume because these are Japanese right-hand-drive vehicles there isn't much of a market for these used vehicles internationally. Mongolians unlike Japan drive on the right-hand side of the road, but apparently the cheap price tag more than makes up for the inconvenience of driving right-hand-drive vehicles on the right-hand side of the road. When costs get high, people will manage to find a way...
Going back further, in 1970 my 8th grade science teacher bought a Ford Maverick for $1,995. This ad doesn’t mention it, but the car came equipped with a small toolkit so you could do some of your own basic maintenance:
Ooooh. And white wall tires just $32 extra.
I had a 1956 Ford, with no power steering, the best truck I have ever owned I loved to drive it, and loved its look with the rounded fenders. The fanciest car I have had was an Opal it was a German made car, manual but so fun to drive. My easiest car to work on was a Dodge Aspen it had a slant 6 engine and could go for miles on a gallon of gas. My nicest ride was a Lincoln Continental but sucked gas instead of burning it. I have never bought a new car and the most I have ever paid for one was the truck that I have now it is a 97 Ford 250 diesel. A cheap vehicle now costs more than what I paid for my first house, it is crazy.