People who bought a used car because they needed something now and couldn't get new (ie totaled their old car), they were probably planning on trading that car in for something new ASAP. People who buy new cars tend to trade them in every 3 years, so driving a 3 year old car is not normal. While a new car will be underwater for a time, normally by the time 3 years have passed it is worth about what you owe and so trading in isn't a loss.