Exactly right!
Running driving cars are $1500 to $2000.
The days of running driving cars under $1000 are loooong gone.

Sorry, the build quality and reliability of the "80s Ks and Ls was far superior to the '60s and '70s cars that we build monuments to.
I can see how people would think otherwise if they don't remember the '70s or don't do their own mechanic work.

Even the much berated 2.6 Mitsubishi was stone cold reliable up until about 150K (if you kept the oil changed).
Change the timing chains and guides and you could get another 150K.

I still have a "90 Dakota, 2.5 Chrysler with 225K on it that gets borrowed and abused every weekend.

With the newer stuff you do have to understand that with an aluminum head on a cast iron block, coolant level is actually more important than oil level.