The last time we bought a car, the salesman tried the 4 square nonsense. I declined to look at monthly payments and was evasive about how much I wanted to spend. I just said, "as much as I need to, to get the car I want at a decent price, which according to my research should be X" or "my monthly budget is not your concern, I am willing to pay X for this car".

Once I had the final price on the car, and it was very comfortable to me, they STILL tried to get me to sign a 'contract' using the four-square numbers. Just monthly payment amounts, no length or other information.

They literally wouldn't move forward until I signed it. Like, wouldn't let me see the manager to finish the deal. The price was so good on this one, though, that I didn't want to just walk out.

So I took a black sharpie and crossed everything out, wrote the total price, and signed it at the bottom.

It wasn't a legal document. It was literally just a sheet with their handwriting on it saying "monthly price agreement". Nothing finance related, no legal jargon anywhere.

Ridiculous. Just absolutely ridiculous, and for what purpose?