Shhhhhhh, it's been waiting to break down.

I know you probably already know this, but the more you wait, the more its gonna cost you. If you have the physical ability to, you should look into fixing some of these issues yourself. Theres a lot of info out there on the internet especially if you have a car built before 2010.

If you dont have the physical ability to, or are in a tight spot financially though, I do hope things work out and you still are able to find a way to have a working car.

Yes, because the people getting cars on payments have tons of cash lying around.

People who have money, lease. That allows you to exit quickly, and interest rates are cheap, you don't have to tie up your own liquidity.

People who have less money, but are sensible with it, pay cash. That allows you to never be stuck with a car payment you can't afford, and you get to keep your car if something bad happens to your finances.

People who don't have money, or have some money and want to live like they have more of it, get car loans. Unfortunately, some people can't avoid them because they truly don't have even the "50% less" lying around. Car loans are predatory, particularly in the US it seems, and these will fuck you up, causing a cycle where once you've paid off your car, it's not got much life left, or at least, you'd need a slightly larger emergency repair budget lying around, so people tend to get newer cars on new loans.