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For those distracted by the irrelevant, you should realize that the fact that the car depreciates or loses value is not a factor that enters into the cash or finance decision. The loss from depreciation is realized by the owner buying the car whether by cash or debt proceeds. The cash or finance choice does nothing to change that. In this decision scenario, the ownership of a depreciating car is a given and not one of the decision factors.
It is true that you should weigh your potential investment returns by not paying cash against the potential interest savings by not financing. The interest savings by not financing are guaranteed. You would be hard pressed to find an equally guaranteed rate of return in a 5 year investment. Forget the zero % or other discount financing fallacies, the financing costs are then built into the price of the car. Always. The pure price guarantee notwithstanding, these cars are selling for under sticker every day. So yes, you can negotiate a cash price.
That said, we are free to take our chances and the investment risk may pay off. I bought mine for cash, because I had enough (enough cash and enough of my 10 year old Camry). Then I also had to replace a 13 year old 4 Runner with a new Highlander. I financed that, but for none of the above reasons except I didn't have the cash on hand. I contribute to a 401K and a Roth IRA. I'll probably (only probably) earn investment returns at or better than the cost of the debt. However, I will enjoy tax benefits that could not be regained if I skipped and missed out on tax sheltered retirement contributions to purchase a vehicle for cash. Now there's a sure reason to finance.
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