My wife and I once had enough saved up to buy a used car from the dealership. The sales manager told us their incentives were structured around financing, so paying cash up front wouldn't count towards their monthly sales figures, and to them it was "useless".

Ended up financing with an open loan and paying it off, in full, on the first payment. Probably lost them ~$1000 in processing fees but they knocked off another $150 for my first interest payment.

I've never not had a car payment. I have put 500 toward a payment or I've put it in a high interest savings account since i was 19. I've gotten incredibly lucky with cars that have never blown up. Every 5 years i buy a new car with cash. I'm 41 and for the first time ever I'm choosing not to buy a new car. I currently have a 2018 WRX limited that's stock with 65k miles. I desperately want a Corolla GR but the price and interest rate makes it just a stupid decision. I've been quoted 25k for my WRX (it's pristine, like not even a swirl, I'm ocd with my detailing) and it's not even half the price of a base GR here because of the dealer markups ( if they are ever in stock ).