One reason that used vehicles are so expensive is that people are getting 72 month and longer loans, and falling for the old "we'll pay off oyur trade" racket - if you owe more on your trade-in than its worth, they don;t really pay it off for you - YOU pay it of, with interest, as they just add that balance to the new loan (IF your credit is good enough, natch...). So people are "upside down" (owe more on their vehicle than its worth) for longer. This drives prices up, as the people then privately attempt to sell the vehicle, but want to get enought to pay it off. This situation causes three things:
1. More and more "take over paymests" type deals advertised - almost always a case of "upside down".
2. Ascarcity of nice, clean used vehicles on the market, which drives up the price,...and...
3. Insurance fraud. People arranging tohave hteir vehicle "stolen" and burned or dumped in a lake.