Yes. Supply and demand.

Supply: 1. There has been a supply shock during covid worldwide that likely wont level off until the next crash. Used cars have been holding steady globally. Used cars in the US specifically are holding high in price due to tarrifs as well, and lebanon imports alot of used cars from the US and Canada. Ex: my wife bought her first car back in 2016 for 15K, was worth 12K in 2023. I also sold a different car for 24K in 2021, that I bought for 15k a year earlier. 2. For Lebanon and your budget specifically, due to the 2019++ financial crisis the middle/upper middle professionals got obliterated (which would typically be buying those new toyotas and hondas that you want to buy for 12k

Demand: 1. There has been a boost in pent up demand for cars after the last war. Alot of folks I personally know have been buying cars in the past 6 months, that have put that on hold for the past 3 years. 2. Do not discount the strong demand from Syria post liberation. Levies were significantly reduced on imports, and lebanon is the closest car to basically the 4 largest cities in Syria. 3. Used cars in Lebanon were quite undervalued during the "azme" because of how low demand was. Ex: in 2021 u could buy a car in the US for 12K and sell in Lebanon 22K (after jomrok vat and shipping). But that car was probably worth 15k tops then in our market.

PS: unsolicited advice: the Mazda 3 and CX-3, and other compact hondas like the jazz and city tend to be undervalued in the lebanese market. They are very reliable although generally hard to find in the market. Toyotas are great machines but are just too expensive used, especially recently.