How much is a car really worth?

This week I have cruised from one snowy car lot to the next trying to convince myself that I don't really need a mini-van. Most of the salesmen (yes, men) I have encountered are a bit to coiffed for my taste, a little too eager to make jokes, shake my hand, and call me repeatedly on my cell phone. I did meet one nice fellow, he was older and had three kids. No pressure and very down to earth--a rarity in the autolot world. After sitting down with him, and learning that my current car a cute little paid for Rav 4 was only worth about 3500 I nearly fell out of my chair.

The new used car I was considering is a Toyota Sienna Mini-van. No frills no AWD. It was going to cost nearly 7 times what my current car is worth. How is that possible???? Now that I have a debt-free life I just can't swallow 300 per month for a car payment over the next five years. Steve Parker, a journalist said in a post from October of last year that nearly 25 billion dollars worth of consumer auto loans are delinquent. When did a car begin to cost more than a house? My first house cost 24,000. It had a huge yard, a basement and two bedrooms. Yes it was older, yes it was in a small town, but still it was going to hold its value and remain part of the landscape for probably another 100 years if not longer. How can a car cost that much?
It costs about 2100 in unionized labor per car -that is roughly 30 hours of labor (http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_much_does_labor_cost_to_build_a_new_car). Dealers make about a 20% profit on each new car. I cant' imagine what car companies are making. There is some small radical ridiculous part of me that thinks we should go back to the days of horses and buggies!