You don't seem to grasp the benefit of borrowing other people's money, rather than your own. The way the wealthy stay wealthy is by borrowing against their assets or perceived assets, while letting said assets continue to appreciate. If you have x amount of "cash" and it's invested in a way to earn more than it costs to borrow - why would you ever not borrow money from someone else - not to mention it passes on the risk to someone else.
Now if you're someone with minimal assets and very little cash on hand, then the above doesn't really apply to you - yes you're better off tapping into cash vs paying high interest.
My income is mostly fixed. Even the rental revenue could be classified as Friedman's "Permanent Income", but there are occasional interruptions when the tenant occupants change.
One feature of a new or low-mi pre-owned vehicle is its asset value, which can be traded in, or sold. But I don't want to use a vehicle as an asset store: it just has utilitarian value with low risk of incurring large maintenance expenses.
Whether my assets are "minimal", the largest item is the rental property which generates net income of almost $1,000/mo. The savings account continues to build toward a point where I can buy a vehicle outright, retaining half the savings, which could go into an indexed fund or CD. But the rate at which I'm saving money far exceeds my losses due to the economy.
If I were working at my expected income for work I could do, it would be so easy to add the monthly for a car note to my list of expenses. It might be easy now, but I don't like the prospects of a regular payment obligation. And what I see with a car-note that only covers 2/3 or half the purchase, compared to my small-asset used car which won't likely need more than an oil change for the next three years, is an extra regular outlay of about $350 plus add'l insurance of $100+, minus a saving in gasoline expense of at most $120/mo.
What do I get by replacing the old vehicle? Some "stuff" that I've installed in the 28-year-old ride as a DIY project, and the lower gas mileage or (no gasoline expense with a total EV), with high insurance premiums. If I worked for my bread, I'd be driving about four or five times the mileage I currently experience, and it would make a lot of sense to get a new or lo-mi pre-owned vehicle.
But even a new car is an asset that depreciates rather quickly. It's something you have to "want" in contrast to a "need". "I want people to see me in that BMW convertible sport!" "I want all the new features and the style!" -- in addition to lower gas mileage, lower maintenance inconvenience, etc.
Other than that, the more you drive your new ride, the more it hemorrhages asset value. Of the multi-millionaires I've known, they all think the same way -- in terms of "cents per mile", "dollars per month" and so forth. And with the eventual demise of my old ride, as likely to be simply towed to the junkyard as wanted by a prospective driver, my loss may not be more than $1,000. Everything else I've put into the car has long since depreciated over time, while those items have extended use-value or longevity for the low mileage over the same time.
So my wants aren't that strong at this point, and my needs are totally satisfied.