Used to be true, not consistently so since COVID or so. I had to buy a car about two years ago and brand new cars with full warranties were only $1-2k more and with better financing offers than 2-4 year used cars with limited warranties. It got better for a bit but apparently used car prices are spiking again

Or like lawnmowers and mopeds, which typically have unfiltered exhausts

Taxes aren't even that low here for how badly public services fail.

I see two big things that others have touched on. One, you wll not believe how much of a difference a real road bike makes in your speed once you have a chance to try one, and the average speeds you're seeing are almost definitely on road bikes. I don't think you need to go out and get one now or anything, get comfortable with what you have first, but also know that if/when you try one your average speed will probably jump at least 5km/h.

Second, cycling takes a lot of time to get used to. Anecdotally, when I first started I was a competitive distance runner and would occasionally win smaller races, and I started riding with a bunch of older relatively out of shape guys who had been cycling for decades. On about one sprint or hill a ride I could beat them, but they would kick my butt on the rest of the ride for more than a year before my conditioning caught up and I started to be able to keep up consistently.