We bought each of our kids a used car when they were in college (to replace their beater cars from high school and get them into something that they could drive until they get established). For the older two, we were able to get newer used cars with reasonable mileage for a reasonable price (i.e. bought our son a 2017 Camry with 11k miles on it for under $18k in 2019).

Our youngest is in college, and we told her last year we'd get her a newer used car to replace the 2008 Hyundai Santa Fe she had been driving. But when we went to look at used cars, the prices for the used ones were outrageous. We made her wait months hoping the prices would come down, then finally just bit the bullet and bought her a new car since it was almost the same price as a 2-3 year old used one with reasonable miles.