Comment by kortilla

The thing you’re missing is that it isn’t a $200 difference. Auto loans above $1k/mo are becoming common now vs the $400 for something “affordable”. Since people don’t have large down payments, the monthly rate scales beyond linearly to offset default risk with the loan upside down.

You’re also presenting a false scenario of “screwed either way”. One decision is getting a car that doesn’t leave you with $10k+ negative equity in a year because you did $1000 down on a $85k truck financed over 10 years with an 8% rate. That’s a decade long financial albatross that will cost you $150k by the time it’s done.

The alternative is you put $1k down on a $30k vehicle over 4 years with the same monthly payment and never end up with negative equity.

The gulfs here are enormous and the “screwed either way” altitude is pure defeatist financial ignorance.