If paying things off was as easy as you say, you wouldn't have millions upon millions of people in insane credit card debt.
Also, even if you paid it off before the thing broke down, that doesn't mean you didn't pay interest.
You're talking about leveraging money for income or capital generating assets...
Much different from financing a depreciating asset.
Adding debt on top of that fixes that somehow? Or just makes you feel better?
If you don't earn enough to save, you need to start earning more.