I see Doug Demuro (the "quirks and features" car review YouTuber) has unwisely decided to step into the realm of personal finance with a video on "Why You Should Finance Your Car".
I am not so sure that it unwise for a somewhat well know, and well liked by some, reviewer cars many of which are very expensive and known to drive expensive cars to consider wade into discussing the purchase of those assets. Perhaps even more so that he owns and runs a car enthusiast auction website.
Aside from going overboard in ridiculing the "personal finance types"
That is kind of his general persona a little bit over the top and opinionated.
But, also as I see it, this isn't anything out of the normal for society. Take this forum for example, we have people posting stories of their badassery here because society at large belittles what members here view as financially responsible. And this forum isn't immune, there is a big debate over whether it is stupid to pay off a mortgage, occasional belittling of bogleheads, and I've seen more than a little venom towards Dave Ramsey.
he even has the audacity to try and shame them into getting a car loan by accusing them of outright child endangerment. Just wow.
I agree it is over the top, but then again he is generally over the top and that is why some people don't like his "reviews". I think he should have lead with his big three found at 15:20, anti-lock brakes, air bags, and curtain side airbags (somehow backup camera didn't make the list though he spent a good bit of time on that) and that he wasn't saying a 2021 with blind spot and lane keep assist.
And his primary financial argument (that cash would be better off deployed in the market) conveniently fails to mention the key caveat of "if you have the cash on hand", and ignores the fact that the majority of those taking car loans do not, in fact, have cash in hand.
What? Grant it is 10:48 into the video but "I only support this strategy if you are financing a car you can otherwise comfortably afford. That's a big point to mention here." If the strategy is to finance rather than buy outright then would it not follow that otherwise afford means you do have the cash/liquid investments to cover the purchase?
https://youtu.be/LDRlc4EIB2o
Yes his presentation is a little handy flaily, over the top, eccentric, and even condescending towards people that hold different views than him.
But,in the end what I took away from his video was that he said, if you can afford a vehicle without financing it and you can get financing at a rate below the long term expected return on that money, you on average will be better off financially (averaged across all cars you will own in your lifetime) to finance the car and place/leave the money in the investment that were used in the rate above. With the exception that you might want to spend a little more than that if it means the difference between having and not having ABS/front airbags/side impact airbags.