Not always. Try to buy a reasonably priced car or truck, with a price no higher than the last 20 years of inflation applied to a vehicle price from 20 years ago.
A 2006 Miata started at $21k. A 2026 starts at $30.4K. This is an increase of 45%, less than the 61%-ish official inflation numbers over that time period. This is not unique.
