$2k is $10k at a 5 year loan (+ ongoing!), so a considerable part of the economic equation for most car buyers (avg US car purchase is $47k).
I'd buy that the mean new car price is $47k, but that's not the right average if you are trying to estimate typical vehicle acquisition costs.
It's a classic stock versus flow problem in economics. People irrationally over-weight the pain of a big lump sum, and under rate the pain of ongoing monthly payments. They misevaluate even as they convert a stock into a flow with an auto loan.
Similarly, people underestimate the cost of driving everywhere, when they have already sunk so much into the units investment.
I swear that there's something about cars that turns people's brains off. They are so deeply ingrained into our way of life that we basically refuse to consider costs and alternatives.