Boy, we seem to be a group of conservative, non-status-seeking rich people.
We’ve paid cash for new and financed used. Until recently, we had two, the newer was 14 and the other had been my mother’s, much older.
I was getting so tired of repairs. Got rid of both for a low cost/mo lease. Two years, maintenance (repairs) included. What a relief. With the old cars, we never knew when we’d get stuck. The cost of the lease over two years is less than we’d paid to keep the old ones running.
Cash for used cars, 0% financing for new. We drive them until it no longer makes financial sense to repair.
Fiscally conservative, @VeryHappy but I’m not conservative in some other ways. 
Oh, I’m with you, @doschicos!!
Cash, unless something offered to finance. Then we pay it off as soon as possible as we did with our last purchase. Paid it off full in a month but got whatever was offered. I forget what it was.
We keep our vehicles for a long time. But lately we have been selling our 3-4 yr. old cars to one of our kids ( for next to bupkis) to replace their old used cars we bought them yrs. ago.
We gave paid in various ways. Sometimes cash, sometimes CCards, especially if I get % cash back on the CCard charge and 0% on the other CCard. I pay the balance in full, so no finance charges or interest. If we can’t afford the car, we keep repairing what we have. We currently have a 1998, 2000 and our “new” 2009. We rarely have expensive repairs and keep them running well.
Dealers DO make money on financing and extended warranties.
I’ve always gotten the bottom line, out the door price before discussing how payment will be made.
Apparently I pay for them twice. We buy new, pay cash, drive until they are dead. I bought a new Ford Fusion last November. Defective since day 1. Now on trip 6 to Ford, wow, just wow…what a nightmare…the dealer said he’d give me a another new one for $2,000. Um, no thanks, I paid for it once. Fix it or replace it. Toyota or Honda next time–learned my lesson.
We usually pay them off in 2 years and drive them until they bite the dust. I think my car is 3+ years old now. I’m still just breaking it in.
Put down big down payment, finance through credit union, pay off on accelerated schedule and keep until no longer running (longevity and reliability are features we look for in a car). Once the kids are out of college we’ll likely be in a position to pay cash and skip any financing.
Buy new, but buy basic Honda, Toyota or Subaru. Finance through credit union and pay off within 2 years. I thought we would be floating in money once the kids were out of college, but somehow… Paid off the house, bought a new HVAC system, paid for a wedding, car… We are not floating and there is another wedding yet to come. :-).
The cars we buy are always the lowest level; Honda CRV basic model - comes with anything we would want including rear view camera, Bluetooth. Subaru Outback basic model - same deal. The higher levels of cars have stuff we don’t want or feel like we need. Sunroof? Hate 'Em. Leather seats? Too hot in the summer. We stick to the basic vanilla models, because I believe much of the profit margin on the cars is in the levels.
Why would anyone put a big chunk of $ down with a 0% finance (after negotiation of cash price)? Unless your bank has a negative return, you are better off not paying anything down.
We needed a new car in a hurry after one of ours was totaled in an accident (luckily no one hurt). Depending on the time of year, our “trick” is to see whether they have any previous-year-model still hanging around that they’d like to unload.
When this happened, we knew we wanted a Prius C and we didn’t really care about the color (thinking that there would be beige, gray, black, navy, red, etc). The dealer said - we can give you a really great deal on that car but you can’t be choosy on color. Ok. So they pulled out a bright yellow car - it looked like a taxi! The other option was bright orange. We just couldn’t do it and negotiated a good price on just a basic gray!
They act shocked because they want you to feel awkward. They make so much more off the financing. Lots of people pay cash.
If you know what kind of car you want, don’t step foot in a car dealership. Research online and determine what you want to pay. Send emails to the dealers within a geographic perimeter in which you are willing to drive (there are internet sales reps at each dealership to handle this stuff) let them know your price and what you are looking for (might help if you have a few acceptable colors). It could easily be 5-6 dealers. You can do it all online and it takes the high pressure sales tactics and face-to-face shenanigans out of the equation. It does work.
Most of my extended family pays cash–not financing. The dealers are excellent manipulators. I’d not consider them your friends and not care how shocked they APPEAR.
H does what @doschicos describes, playing them off each other online. Like others, we pay cash. Hold for a long time. Our “new car” is a 2013. We bought it in summer 2012. H thought he was negotiating for an end of the year 2012, but somehow dealer got their signals crossed and sold us the 2013 for a huge discount. Win!
Also check Costco Auto. Free, no obligation. You input the details of the car you want to buy, they provide a quote from a dealer who is usually not the closest dealer to your home.
I used that quote with the nearby dealer and he matched the price. I am sure there are better ways but when I only buy a new car every 10+ years, I am not the most savvy negotiator.
You did not want a car that stands out so that you can find it in the parking lot? 
My biggest fear is having a car break down on me for any reason, may it be a flat tire or dead battery, so I have always preferred a new car.
I just did a quick math. Assuming I have spent $400/mon for car leasing in the last 30 years, then I have spent $400 x 12mon x 30yr= 144000. If on average the kind of car I have leased were around $40,000 then I could have bought 3.6 car (or 4 cars) with the lease money I have spent over 30 yrs. Because I’ve always had new cars, it meant I spent very little time or money on fixing my car. I think I am ok with it.