When I was at UGA, I had a 1978 Toyota Corolla. I paid $900 for it. I got mid to upper 30's around town, and got 45 MPG on the highway. My Dad had a 1985 Honda CRX that got upwards of 55 MPG on the highway. Those cars were built over 30 & 35 years ago, and little to nothing on the market today gets that kind of mileage. Both cars were running strong with over 200,000 miles on them when we got rid of them with no major repairs (just brakes, batteries, etc that has a known lifetime).

Cars today are junk. The car companies don't even sell cars. They sell on-board WiFi, GPS systems, voice activated radios, etc. Gadgets. It's because despite all the advancements in technology over the last 30-40 years, the actual car hardware they manufacture is garbage, so they have to foo-foo it up with a shiny radio. And the car-buying public eats it up.