>It's a myth that a brand new car is a bad deal.

that's not really what I was trying to argue. I'm trying to point out the mindset of someone in her position purely thinking of monthly payments.

An "extra" $100 a month doesn't sound like a lot of money and the sales people push this hard because it obfuscates the true cost of the purchase. For example my real estate agent kept trying to do this when I was buying a house, an "extra $200 a month is a small price to pay for the house you love".