It's hard to do with minivans, because the segment is pretty small. But (assuming a 1996->2019 comparison) if you're looking at sedans, you can often go 'down

It's hard to do with minivans, because the segment is pretty small. But (assuming a 1996->2019 comparison) if you're looking at sedans, you can often go 'down market' for something that's objectively superior by almost every metric for very similar money. For example, a mid-model Ford Taurus from 1996 (say $19K) is a much worse car than the base-model VW Jetta from 2020 that costs the same money. Slower, worse gas mileage, vastly inferior technology, safety equipment and so on. Also let's not forget a good rate on a car loan in 1996 was 9%.