How can Americans Afford Such Nice First Cars?

I've seen so many Americans that have been able to afford cars like Honda Civic Si EM1's, Toyota MR2's, Subaru Imprezas, BMW's etc for their first car. These cars being cars that I could never even dream of affording to insure as a first car. I've got a Renault Clio 1.2 and I can barely afford the insurance on that. How do they afford it? Is insurance extremely cheap in the US?

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