The cheapest new 2024 car available in the United States at the time of this writing is the Nissan Versa S, which starts at $16,290 ($17,225 with destination charge). According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Inflation Calculator, $16,290 comes to about $7,286 in 1990 dollars … and American car shoppers in 1990 had many new cars to choose from with sticker prices well below that figure. Some of them were pretty decent machines, but hindsight tells us that one really stood out for its unbeatable combination of great build quality and bargain-basement price: the Toyota Tercel EZ
The 1987-1990 Tercel was the very cheapest North American-market Toyota of its era, and the EZ trim level was the most affordable Tercel. The EZ had zero frills: rubber floormats instead of carpeting, no right-side mirror, no radio of any sort, not even a sun visor for the passenger. What it did offer was genuine Toyota build quality in a transportation appliance that wasn’t at all fun to drive but got you to your destination every time.
The MSRP for this car was just $6,488, which amounts to $15,647 in today’s money. What could slide under that price tag in 1990? In fact, a surprising number of new cars could pull off the feat, including the Yugo GV ($4,435), the base FWD Subaru Justy ($5,866) the base Hyundai Excel hatchback ($5,899) and its Mitsubishi Precis twin (also $5,899), the Geo Metro XFi ($5,995), the Ford Festiva