Or anyone who can afford the monthly payments without issue.

Look, no matter how much anyone insists certain interest rate lines can't be crossed, loan terms can't be longer than 60 months "or it's an awful idea," etc, they're just wrong.

The bottom line is cars are worth what people will pay, and financial products are no different. You finance to your convenience, and maybe you wanna pay cash up front, or maybe you wanna take out a loan and dump that 40k into a high yield stock or something else. It's all up to you and the financial aspect is completely relative.

What I find interesting is that people immediately get this when you change the subject to housing. They understand that 250k in 2000 was a brand new 2500 sqft house with half an acre, but 250k barely gets you a 3 bedroom from the 70s in most places.

Well, cars are not much different. At least in the US, where they aren't a luxury, but usually a necessity.