If you have a car on finance, why?

[Cupboarddoorknob]

Genuinely curious and not a dig.
I’ve only ever owned three cars, my first car my parents bought for me was an old banger, then the other two I’ve bought myself one for £6k which I saved for and then ran it until I realised repairs were silly and sold it on for £3k to cut my losses, I used that £3k and a bit of savings to buy my now car which cost between £3 and £4k and seems to be doing well so far. DH has always bought his cars cash as well.
We have friends who have up to £1k a month going out for car payments, all the while they are stressing about their outgoings, not able to save, not living in poverty obviously but it strikes me as total madness to have this monthly expense on a depreciating asset, even if it does bring a level of enjoyment.

I don't have a car on finance, but I expect it's because of different expectations and priorities.

I bought my secondhand car in 2017 for £1200, at one point I put 10,000 miles per year on it. I've spend about £600 on it in total, and I'm running it to the ground.
When it dies, I'm buying an old Toyota Corolla with less than 100k miles. Can pick them up for less than £2k.

I can imagine many people - who spend several hundred a month on finance - don't want to drive this kind of car as it doesn't fit their image or comfort needs. Also, they probably figure they can afford it. Similar to people who get a new phone and contract every 2 years.