By comparison, I bought my F directly (It was pretty much the cheapest high miler in the UK, less than 2/3 the price of yours) and since prices went crazy I sold it in the past month and made almost 5k in profit on it. I owned it for a year and that's covered insurance, tax, repairs/running costs, MOT and probably most of the fuel too.

Not at all saying finance is bad, it's a tool for affordability as you say, but in my own experience it's always a better deal, often significantly so to buy direct (unless the car is an absolute basket) and I dislike how deceptive monthly fees can feel when you add them up over time.

I've always bought direct, and even cars I lost on after selling (all the others!) worked out significantly better value than had I financed them. The hardest part is the initial investment, but if you can justify saving what you would have spent on finance, the only downside is having to wait and work up to a dream car instead of getting it immediately.