Agreed. I usually have to remind the salesperson to stop talking to me in monthly payment terms. I always tell them to talk to me about final price including all interest.

It's a bit of an uphill battle, where you have to tell them over and over. They're just so used to trying to sell the monthly payment. It's really no wonder that people that don't understand interest (many if not most) will fall for this. And if you actually can't really afford the car, it's also understandable why many if not most people will "gladly" fall for it. The alternative is not having the car of their dreams.

That said, financing in general isn't bad. I've financed most of my cars. I wouldn't have had the sort of "emergency fund" to just outright buy the car and financing allowed me to get the car when I needed it instead of buying some "temp beater" and taking even longer to buy the car I really wanted when I needed it and I paid it back with priority (i.e. faster than the financing terms required it).

This reminds me of my most recent real estate transaction.

Over and over, the agent kept insisting that I increase my counter offer. "Think about it - that's only like a latte a day".

Yes. A latte a day, that I don't already purchase. Over 25 years.

We were talking about close to $50,000.

Temp beaters are not that bad, if you choose them wisely (like a boring 3-year old Toyota). Nothing fancy, no surprises, years ahead with just basic service. And a small crash will only break your car, not your heart.

Agreed. If you can find one.

I bought a new vehicle in 2023 after years of not owning a car. I was trying to buy used, but the delta between new and 1-3 year old used was so small it made no sense to go used. I was giving up a warranty for often times $500-$1500, total.

This is still true, and especially true for brands whose used vehicles command a price premium, like Toyota. Used values are still high relative to historical norms because a lot of the market that normally buys new vehicles is priced out of buying new, and some of that demand has been absorbed by the used market (some of it has dropped out of the market and/or deferred a purchase until later).

The idea of buying a relatively low miles 3-year old Toyota for materially less than a new one doesn't really exist, currently. Now, if you want to go for a 3 year old car with 150,000+ miles, sure, you can save some money, but that's a ton of miles per year. You're counting on the previous owner(s) being _really_ on top of their basic maintenance.

How much cheaper is a boring 3-year old Toyota versus a boring brand new Toyota? Why would the person who buys a boring new Toyota unload it for a significant loss after just 3 years of ownership?

3 year old used to be the sweet spot but when I bought a car two years ago, 3 year old cars cost almost as much as new ones so I went with new.

I would also not call a 3 year old car a “beater”. A “beater” is more like 15 years old.

a 3 year old toyota is a temp beater? I bought a 5 year old toyota and consider that pretty luxury compared to the 7-10 year old cars I've always previously purchased (edit: and I'd never call them beaters either, I've always looked after them). I've never financed a car, I think it's a crazy thing to do when there are so many good used cars available. And new doesn't mean without problems either, usually you can get good information on the reliability of older models that you won't know for new ones.

This.

3 year is not a beater. My dad used to buy a new car every 3 years, back in the hey days when his company would have a deal with the local dealership (of one particular brand that they like for some reason - probably CEO friendship or something) to get their employees better terms (without negotiating), so we enjoyed a new car every 3-ish years when I was a kid. But that's not a beater.

The beater cars I owned were about 10 years old when I bought them. And I drove them for like 3-ish more years before selling again.