prices are high, yet for many, many, [and many more] years, i have observed the local high school student parking lot, where the vast majority of vehicles the students drive are fairly new and sometimes expensive, vehicles.
when i went to high school, the student lot was filled with fixed up/hot rodded old heaps that were semi-affordable to the students working at the local gas station or restaurant.
how is this possible the students of today can be driving new and expensive vehicles ? does mommy and daddy pay ? do the kids sell drugs on the side ? [i have personally seen this happen, as my role as a police commissioner here]
totally mind boggling, but personal debt is staggering these days..................
luckily, all my "stuff" is paid fore, and i don't need [nor want] a "keep up with the neighbor's" life style.
i haven't got to the "keep off my grass" stage in life, thank goodness, although at times i appear as the "grumpy old man" on the block.

Same here ! when I went to high school it was the same thing .. old cars and a few " hopped up " cars mainly 62-64 Impalas and Biscaynes . I pass a high school on the way to my part time job , granted the school is in a fairly " well to do " town but its the same thing all newer cars and Jeeps, there is a nice lifted older Dodge P/U I saw the last few days however. My guess is the cars are bought for the kids by the parents for the most part. What kid can afford a $40,000 plus car ?

My daughter works for Ford at home. She/I get a employee discount on new Fords.
Recently I visited a local Ford dealership to check out a 24 Hybrid Bronco.
I had to approach a salesman. I did not mention an employee discount.
He stated they did not have any on the lot.
I asked if he could find one.
I gave him my phone number.
I have never heard back from him.
Visited another Ford dealer on East coast,
Gave him my number after a test drive of a floor non hybrid model.
Never heard from again, although he was friendly,
Not sure they want to sell, or are they so panicked deer in the headlights they actually got a potential customer.

My boss and I were at a ford lot recently. We were walking around looking at an F250 for him and a Van for our warehouse. Nobody ever came outside, they could have potentially sold well over 100K in vehicles at that moment but nobody even came out to ask. When we did go inside to inquire about the Van they shot us a price higher than they had advertised lol. Total waste of time.

There may be valid reasons why the salesmen shy away from them. Have you looked at any of the reviews from the owners? Or have you checked the depreciation rate on them? Lots of first hand information out there.

And you can easily search for availability nationwide without setting foot in a dealership. But then again, with the recalls and owner's reports, it might be best to have a good relationship with a local servicing dealer.

Just saying...........................

Maybe, but I wanted to actually drive one, The lots where so full of new vehicles I had to double park, and since I was driving by, I dropped in, to no real avail.

My daughter bought a 2025 Totota Corolla yesterday

Basically all via text and emails back and forth.

We pulled in the lot yesterday and had 2 salesman's ask if we needed help before we got to the door

IMO overall I think it was an OK experience. But this was the 1st time for me on a dealer lot in several years

F+I guy said they have doubled the sales staff since early 2020 and now do 900 cars a month average , so they are doing something right IMO ( not sure if thats just the one location or over several brands / locations near by )
He said they had something like 75 salespeople between internet and ground sales
There were 3 F+I guys in the bldg we were in alone

GM, Chrysler,Ford all claim they make no money selling cars yet Toyota, Hyundai,Kia, Etc are making literal boat loads of money selling.......cars. Hmmmmmm. My wife wants a new car....not a damn SUV,,, a car! Where do I shop for that? Can't be GM,Chrysler or Ford....idiots.

I used to love driving slowly thru a new car sales lot with a for sale sign in my window and see how many salesmen I could get to follow me around while I acted like I didn't see them... times have changed, you can't get any to follow your car around the lot.