I always hate comparing the housing market to cars.
Cars are a depreciating asset. And people buying expensive cars (I consider a Tahoe/Yukon to be expensive) you shouldn’t need interest rates to be low in order to buy the car.
With homes you still have to put down a downpayment, usually 20%. Interest rates doubling may hurt but I still need to have the cash to even get a mortgage. Plus you can always refinance when rates go down.
I agree. Interest rates shouldn't matter when buying a car because you should have been capable of buying it in cash to begin with. But the reality is that it will because the majority of buyers for these vehicles (which are not necessarily people on these forums) finance because they don't have the cash to buy it outright.
I always chuckle when people say, "Oh the interest rates are low. It's a great time to buy."
All else equal, I prefer to have higher interest rates and a lower principal than a lower interest rate and higher principal for the exact same reason you mentioned. You may have the opportunity to refinance at a lower rate in the future but there's really not much you can do about the principal of the loan.