Why the pitch sounds right
Every line of it is true. A new car has a warranty. Repair bills on an older car are real, and they arrive without warning. The conclusion is still usually wrong, because of what the pitch counts and what it leaves out.
What it leaves out
It counts repair bills. It doesn't count depreciation, because depreciation never sends a bill. A new car commonly loses more value in its first few years than an older car costs in repairs over five. No warranty covers that.
It also turns the monthly payment into background noise. In the second quarter of 2026 the average new-car loan in the US was about $43,600, over roughly 70 months, at about $765 a month, according to Experian. The green box shows what that payment could do to a debt instead.
Negative equity
Owing more on a car than it's worth is common. Edmunds found about three in ten trade-ins toward a new car in mid-2026 were underwater, by close to $6,900 on average. Rolling that into a new loan means paying interest on a car you no longer own.
When trading in can make sense
If your car is genuinely unsafe or about to need a major repair, put that cost in the repairs box and run it again. If your job depends on a car that starts every morning, that counts too. The point is to see all the costs before you sign.
