You alluded to it in your post, but an interesting side effect of Cash For Clunkers was that there is an entire set of model years basically missing from the us

You alluded to it in your post, but an interesting side effect of Cash For Clunkers was that there is an entire set of model years basically missing from the used car market. The people most likely to take advantage of the program were those who liked having new or nearly new cars, so the cars that got destroyed were actually on the newer end of the used car spectrum. So then when people such as myself, who have no problem driving an older vehicle, went to upgrade, the cars weren't there. I'm still driving a 1995 Pontiac Grand Prix largely because when I would have been interested in a cheap upgrade there weren't any moderately used cars to be found. At this point, I just plan to keep driving it until it finally gives out on me. It's lasted me this long, so why not?