That's an order of magnitude more than people on the edge could dream of having all at once or hoping someone would loan them. 2k+ is an effort to save up.
Used cars are an amazing deal. It's riskier sure, but that is the reality of being poor. No one is paying thousands of dollars to get an old subcompact repaired, it's going right to the scrappers. I think you are underestimating the reliability of ~8-12 year old sub compacts/sedans. Fluids, pads and belts keeps most early 2000's Asian cars going well into the 300s.
If you buy a new car, you're paying for the fact that it is new, even if you can't see it. I did a quick search, and found a gorgeous Audi A8 that looks like it's new for 6k. You can buy a crappy old car for about 1k. So anything in between should get you something modest. Most people I know buy used cars, and I rarely have heard anyone having troubles with them (IDK, are American cars less reliable?). If you buy a relatively new used car, you get all of the advantages you list, and none of the disadvantages.
My rent was about 8.5 times of that last year (for the whole year of 2018, I paid $28,800). I lived in Manhattan (in NYC). The salaries for programmers is higher though. The average base salary (in NYC) is around $144k[1]. With bonuses and stock though, it can easily reach $200k per year. And it gets even higher in the SF Bay Area.
The funny thing is employers are so desperate for programmers that they're willing to hire anyone who can code. You definitely don't need a degree, and you could even be a college dropout. Coding bootcamps have been sprouting like crazy all over the U.S. for the past few years. (And recruiters like Triplebyte helps people without degrees or CS backgrounds get high-paying jobs.[2])
[1] Triplebyte measured NY's average to be $144k (which my experience confirms): https://triplebyte.com/software-engineer-salary
I don't know anyone who buys second-hand who has had significant issues. So if anything your claim about anecdotes would be inverted for me.
That's also what sets the used car market, of course. Is that specific Audi or Range Rover going to cost more in maintenance than that Honda or Toyota over the next 5 years and 50K miles? I can't say. Are those 20 Audis/Range Rovers going to cost more than those 20 Honda/Toyotas? I'd bet a large fraction of my net worth on it!
I'm not sure where the idea that most working-class people have $17K lying around to drop on a new car, so they can avoid carrying insurance/worrying about dings comes from, but it doesn't match my anecdotal experience with solid, working-class people.
Our family could relatively easily afford any non-exotic car, paying cash for new. The last 3 cars we bought were a 1998 Mercedes diesel with 188K mile on it, a 2005 CR-V with 167K miles on it, and a 2014 LEAF (new, with $10K in tax credits on it). Over that ~10 year period, I bet I haven't spent $4K on maintenance across that fleet and still have the Honda and LEAF. Only significant repair was Honda clutch ($1500), tires ($600), then a bunch of wear items (serpentine belt tensioner, brakes, a battery, an exhaust repair $400, wipers), and oil changes. The items with dollars above are farmed out; the routine wear items and oil changes I do in the driveway.
Will still include backup cameras etc.
But for the average person buying a used car will result in huge reliability problems, being stranded on the side of the road multiple times and you’ll end up paying thousands for repairs anyway. Yes, we all know that one guy who bought a used Toyota and never had problems. There’s a reason why it’s an anecdote about “that one guy I know.”