NEW YORK – I know why so many young people feverishly want Bernie Sanders to be our next president. They can’t buy new cars.

I figured this out walking around the 2016 New York International Auto Show.

If there is one place you can discern the widening gap between the haves and have-nots – the thing the senator from Vermont preaches so much about – it is here.

Most young people cannot afford, not without parental or other help, many of the vehicles on display.

Maybe they can scratch up the $22,210 base price of the super-lightweight, fuel-efficient, not terribly highway-comfortable, all-wheel-drive 2016 Mazda CX-3, the compact crossover-utility vehicle I drove here from Virginia.

It is a strange conveyance, designed to fit into a young earner’s salary collapsing under the weight of a national new-vehicle market with an average final price of $33,566. Young buyers will suffer with the CX-3 for a few years before someone, somewhere offers them a raise to get a car that feels better on the road.

Then they’ll start looking for the materialization of car dreams they had as boys and girls. You can see them now, these children – bloggers and online “media specialists” – scurrying around the cavernous Javits Convention Center, hauling their GoPro cameras and other fancy electronic gear that wasn’t even thought of when I began my automotive-journalism career in 1982.

I spoke to some of them, some of whom were recent college graduates and others who had left high school, mastered the latest camera and electronic equipment, and headed into the automotive-journalism “business.”

None of them could even think about buying the $97,250 Porsche 911 convertible we were looking at. What about that “base” Mercedes-Benz C-Class sedan with all-wheel drive, at $41,875? Forget it. Okay, how about that V-8 Range Rover sport-utility vehicle, for $104,190? Get out of here!

Other $30,000, $40,000 and $50,000 “regular” cars and trucks were not affordable for the youth of today, either. Many of them did not have even have cars. Many were just in town for the Wednesday-Thursday media preview, often doubling up, unable to afford a two-night hotel stay on their own.

And that’s another thing: International car companies are cutting costs. Many have discontinued the practice of funding journalists’ visits to the New York show.

I am lucky, sort of. My two Barnard-graduate daughters – one public relations agent, one entertainment lawyer – run their own businesses. Both enterprises took heavy parental financial lifting. But the kids provide shelter for Mom and Dad on New York visits.

I talked to lawyer daughter about the youth affordability-pricing discrepancies I witnessed at the New York show. Her response:

“C’mon, Dad! Are you kidding? A lot of these kids are getting out of school without jobs, or with intern-level salaries, and most of ’em have college loans. It’s a shock to them.

“They went to privileged schools, probably felt privileged all their lives, and maybe they thought they’d pick up a Porsche, Mercedes or at least something like a nice Mini with their degrees. Now, they can’t even pay for that little thing you’re driving.

“They feel lied to, cheated out of something that was guaranteed to them. Of course they are listening to Bernie Sanders. He is telling them a ‘truth’ they want to hear.”

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Bottom line: It is a good first-time commuter crossover-utility vehicle for small families on a budget. Try to keep it off high-speed highways – it gets pushed around by high winds and truck ballast.

Ride, acceleration and handling: The ride is good to decent on moderately maintained pavement, but potholes shake you up. Acceleration? Forget it. Make friends with the right lane on high-speed roadways.

Head-turning quotient: Small and cute. Young people can look at it at car shows and maybe actually buy it.

Engine/transmission: The CX-3, all new for 2016 and based largely on the Mazda3 hatchback, comes with a 2-liter in-line four-cylinder gasoline engine with 16 valves and variable valve timing (146 horsepower, 146 pound-feet of torque). The engine is linked to a six-speed automatic transmission that can be operated manually.

Capacities: Seating is for five people. Cargo capacity with all seats raised is 12.4 cubic feet. Maximum cargo capacity with rear seats down is 44.5 cubic feet. The car is a wonder of Mazda’s relatively new SkyActiv (light weight, high strength) engineering. The tank holds 11.9 gallons of gasoline (regular grade is fine).

Mileage: I averaged 31 miles per gallon on the highway.

Safety: Standard equipment includes ventilated front and solid rear disc brakes, four-wheel anti-lock brake assistance, emergency braking assistance, traction and stability control, and side and head air bags.

Note: The CX-3 is available with a full suite of advanced electronic safety equipment, highly recommended by this column, including forward collision warning/mitigation, lane-keeping assistance, rear parking assistance and high-definition rearview camera.

Pricing: The 2016 Mazda CX-3 starts at $22,210, with a dealer’s invoice price of $20,614. Price as tested is $24,125, including $1,860 in options (advanced electronic safety equipment and other items) and a $995 factory-dealer shipment charge.

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