It’s entirely different. When I buy a car, as I’ve done a few times now, that debt is mine. I’m responsible for it. When I bought my corvette, despite the fact that I can’t drive it about four months out of every year, I’m still responsible for those payments. And if those payments were to stop:

- the asset would be repossessed

- the bank would wreck my credit

And most importantly IMO, to really spotlight it: I am paying that loan. I took out a loan for however much, with a payment schedule to pay it back. That is completely different and much more reasonable than “I borrowed money to buy a thing and now that debt is on that thing.”

And that’s before you even get into their various “fees.”