Yes, I think you're looking at cars so far back that the prices, while still elevated, aren't quite as bad as more recent used cars. I just ordered a new car for myself (my old car was recently totaled by a deer strike) and had to pay MSRP, because nobody is offering any discounts. That probably means I paid $1500-$2000 more than I would have a few years ago when I could negotiate a deal. Alternatively, on my wife's 2018 car that was coming off lease, I just bought it out for $27K, while on the open market the car is currently worth about $40K. So we're looking at $13K overpriced on the used car vs $2K overpriced on the new one. Still doesn't quite make up the "drive off the lot depreciation" of a new car, but it gets pretty close.
A very similar thing happened to me. Any used car or on-the-lot new car (in whatever apportionment a dealer will get) is hiked up to astronomically levels for impatient folks. This means when things eventually correct in price, there will be a lot of salty bagholders.
By ordering and taking the bus for a few months, buying a car from the factory was the best deal.
I usually buy used cars and maintain them myself to a good degree, but that's only on the premise that you really don't lose much value on them from years ~5-10. If the price halves over that time, I might as well lose a similar amount from years 0-5 from regular depreciation and have warranty coverage.
> I usually buy used cars and maintain them myself to a good degree
I used to maintain my cars myself, including doing belt services and such when due, and even a couple engine and gearbox rebuilds. But the older I get, the more I can't get up the motivation. It's so nice to just take the car in to a trusted mechanic and have them do it. Recently started using a vacuum oil evacuator to do oil changes through the top though and boy is that quick and easy. Best $100 I've spent in a while.
Yes it's good to have rules on how far one wants to go down the maintenance rabbithole. I usually set the limit at whether I'll have to buy an expensive tool just to do the service (e.g. one of those tools to clean the valves on these GDI engines) or whether the job requires removing more than N things (where N = 2 or so); if I have to disconnect a bunch of ancillary stuff just to replace a starter (or the back spark plugs in a lot of transversely-mounted V6 engines), then to the pro mechanic it goes!
