This is more nuanced, IMO. If you can get financing at or below the rate of inflation (2.1% today) get the financing. What makes a car a poor investment is buying a new car every 3-4 years. That is a terrible thing to do. Cars nowadays are designed to hit 150-200K miles, which puts most cars at 5-18 years of life. Buying a new car and keeping it at the minimum twice as long as you make payments is the way to go. That said, buying a used car or a lease return with 50K miles on it is a better choice for most people. If you are young and your life trajectory is still fluid don't invest heavily in a car when your life may do a 180 in a year or two and you need to upsize or downsize to take a new job, hold a new family etc. Sadly there is next to zero will for public transit out here or else I would not own one either, only a van for the hobby gear on the weekends and that is it.I might consider not having one at all.