In some cases, taking out a loan does save you money. I always used to wonder why insanely rich people would take out loans to buy something like a Lexus. They could pay cash for it out of their smallest bank account and still have lots left over.
Then I discovered that rich people have high-return investment opportunities not available to people who can’t sink a lot of money into them. If your money is invested somewhere and earning you 4%, and you get a 2% car loan, you end up with more money at the end if you take out the loan and only make minimum payments, because your investment was out-earning the interest on the loan.
So it’s not always financially bad to finance a car - sometimes it’s a financial mistake not to finance it.
IMHO, the stripper car of old can be found in fleet cars; used rental cars for example. If you can get over the idea of a hundred (s) different butts sitting in the seat you plan to buy, they practically give these things away for reduced prices if you bargain hard. New cars have shift and rev limiters, they are regularly maintained and may be worth a look…if you like silver and charcoal. Buying in January in the north when the salesmen are cleaning the cars off instead of selling them makes deals on cheaper cars easier to come by and they welcome lower cash sales.