The monthly payment can make an expensive car look surprisingly harmless. A dealer can stretch the loan, adjust the down payment, add products, or shuffle other numbers until a vehicle that felt out of reach suddenly lands inside the monthly budget.
That is where car shoppers can get into trouble. A payment tells only part of the story, while the interest rate, loan length, total amount financed, fees, taxes, trade-in and optional products determine what the vehicle actually costs. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau specifically recommends looking beyond the monthly payment and comparing the total cost of the loan.
