There is a sentence I hear almost every day, and on the surface, it sounds simple enough: “I want my payment around $300, but I don’t want to borrow over $15,000.” And honestly, I understand why people think that should have an easy answer. It sounds like it should be as simple as pointing to a vehicle, grabbing a calculator, and announcing victory. If only financing were that easy. One of the first things I usually explain is that the cheapest vehicle does not always create the cheapest payment. Yup, you heard me correctly and that usually catches people off guard.  Sometimes I just get a little nod, like they are mentally rearranging furniture in their brain. A bank may decide they only want to finance that vehicle for 48 months instead of stretching it out longer. Which means the price may look friendly… right up until the payment shows up wearing combat boots. That is how a $15,000 vehicle someone expected to land around $300 a month can suddenly show up much highe...