re: Pay off your mortgage or pay off all debt other than the mortgage?

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save towards the purchase so that you can pay cash but invest the money along the way and keep any gains beyond the vehicle cost in the investment account.

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That should be a given. You shouldn't buy a car when you want a new one or when you have "saved up for it". You should buy a car when you NEED to buy a car. If you have to finance it, then you have to finance it. If you can pay cash, there is nothing wrong with that. Or you can invest the cash and make some money.

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I don’t plan to ever have a car payment again.

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Nothing wrong with that at all. FWIW, I paid cash for my last vehicle because I knew I was about to buy a house and didn't want to take the chance of negatively affecting my credit in the short term. I've got nothing against paying cash. It just isn't the savviest use of your money.

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Might be the expectation but someone, somewhere is accounting for the trillions of consumer debt in the US and I don’t expect this board is exempt.

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While I agree this board isn't exempt, the majority of posters active on Money Talk understand the basic concepts of avoiding unnecessary debt. But yes, for someone who doesn't understand simple financial concepts and/or can't control themselves and/or just doesn't want to deal with a car payment, by all means, the general advice should be to pay cash.