Just heard a guy in the shop say "nobody reads the contract, they just hear the monthly number" and it hit hard
He works at a dealer in Mesa and said buyers only ask "what's the payment" while the finance guy stretches the term to 84 months without them even noticing. My own loan is 6 years on a car worth $4,000 less than I owe, and I signed it in the same 20 minutes he described. How many of you walked out without ever adding up the total cost?
That line about stretching the term to 84 months is exactly what happened to my buddy, he was so focused on the $340 payment he never asked what the car actually cost him. Three years later he's still upside down and stuck.