> budget cars have not noticably increased in price Actually, they did. The new Dacia Logan starts at 8500 euros, back in 2009 you could buy an entry-level one

> budget cars have not noticably increased in price Actually, they did. The new Dacia Logan starts at 8500 euros, back in 2009 you could buy an entry-level one at about 5500-6000 euros, which would be around 6400-7000 euros in today's money. At those entry level prices those extra 1500-2000 euros do count.