When my wife and I moved from Australia to the US we didn't have credit ratings, so we had to use savings to buy a car. Didn't have much of a choice in Houston, TX, due to the lack of public transport and the danger of using bikes on the road here. Got the wife a new Toyota Corolla for $17k, paid in cash - was expecting to be able to negotiate down price for cash, as this is usually the case in Australia. Here in the US people looked at me funny when I asked for a lower price because I was paying cash. I ended up knocking the price down from about $21k list to $17k after playing 3 dealerships off each other. That seemed to work better than offering to pay in cash.
When we did pay cash, it was like Toyotas system imploded. Their processes are so set up for putting people on finance, and they still run you through those processes and try and sell you on finance. I was really annoyed that we had to sit in various rooms for hours, while people ran us through paperwork that was designed for people who were getting finance on their vehicles.
BTW we have had so many issues with the electrics in the Toyota Corolla - my advice, avoid it.