In our case, we were able to get a better rate from investing than the rate we're getting charged on the car loan. It was "cheaper" to take the loan than to pay up front! This economy is nuts.
When borrowing rates are lower than investment returns borrowing just makes good financial sense.
I could pay off my home loan today, but at 2.5% interest why, when I can keep that money and leave it in a safe high return investment? I’d be losing 10s of thousands a year in returns for my retirement to save a few thousand in mortgage interest.
Same thing with cars.
Then again, I don’t even buy new cars. I just get a dependable used Japanese car and drive it until it dies at 300k miles.
It's OK to go into debt over a depreciating asset if you can afford to default on the loan, and it substantially improves your ability to make money. Businesses do it all the time. If a sole trader could work better with the cybertruck for some reason(I've got nothing) and could borrow off their house as collateral, that's a financially savvy business decision.
But a lot of people fall victim to predatory marketing. We need to recognize that it's not just them being dumb, they were manipulated, tricked and lied to by a powerful machine.