No, safety and fuel regulations did not send prices of cars into the stratosphere. In the 1960's suburbs of Philadelphia, gas was 30 cents a gallon, a nice new car was $3k, the house cost $30k, and Dad made $10k as a VP of engineering at a small firm. Right now, all three are almost exactly 10x what they were then; so cars have not gone up more than regular inflation.

And, to top it off, today's car reliability is way, way higher, as is the quality (in the 60's, we were thrilled if a car lasted 6 years and got 80k miles; nowadays, that's about half of what you'd expect. And the safety is wildly improved (like, for instance, air bags, never mind seat belts!)

Don't forget maintenance! Old cars needed far more maintenance far more often. This 6-7k miles every 6 months thing is just absurd.

Cars got oil changes every 1k miles, not 3k or 7k. Just for starters.

It's not just the additional mandated safety & economy features - buyers these days expect things like power windows and infotainment systems to be on the car. The only modern cars I know of with hand-crank windows are the sub-$15k cars like the Nissan Versa Note and the Ford Focus S.

I mean prices are going to be a little inflated over 15 years. Also you can get an incredible vehicle for $15 grand that is a few years old. Those safety requirements are something people (especially with families) are thankful for when they are put to use.

Absolutely, but while the cost of a car almost doubled, average salary increased far more slowly.

You can get a nice, large used family car or minivan for much less than $30K. More like $10-15K. You can find good examples for less if you are patient.