It was worse a little while back. I have good friends from way back before I 'made' it (although I still don't buy $13k cars!
), some of their kids wheel and deal in cheap cars, for a while there they had a very hard time down in the lowest range. Not a shortage exactly, but to some degree, and prices went up, of course.
Btw, their preferences run to old civics or dodge dakotas
Pete