For cutting tubing, flat (not plate), angle (in other words long stuff), I will go to horizontal band saw over anything else first.
Next for this long stuff probably is chop saw with abrasive blade. Horizontal band saw will cut the "wider" things at a right angle, chop saw blade wants to walk slightly away from the piece. But the chop saw is pretty affordable.
(Tried the HF horizontal bandsaw way back when and was not impressed, JET works much better out-of-the-box.)
Now I will digress:
Electric angle grinders have their place, so do pneumatic cut-off tools (angle and straight with rotary brasive blades).
An air-powered body saw is much handier than I thought it might be...especially around sheet metal. Close in function here is electric jig saw with metal blade.
Every once and a while the old elbow-grease powered hacksaw is handy.
Last things I pull out are reciprocating saw, plasma cutter and torch. Usually they are more for "demolition" than building back. Don't know how you would get stuff like front crossmembers out of old trucks easier than plasma cutting it out. (I also prefer to avoid the heat, sparks, and flames plasma and torch produce.)
Bottom line with cutting tools is that there is no one kind that will do many things well. (I thought when I ponied up big-bucks for a big 220VAC plasma that it would be the do-it-all, but I was wrong.)
For cutting plate, unless you are blessed by the Lord with a big shear, then plasma/torch with straight-edge will work but you will still be grinding kerf of in either case, just less for plasma.
My .02 on the metal cutting business.
