<prompt> Human: Heres the situation:My wife and I sold both of our vehicles in preparation for an international relocation. Unfortunately, that fell through. I have accepted a job offer in another state, so we need a vehicle to both replace our current rental when its returned and to help us move.The job pays well, but money is a little tight at the moment. So when the time comes to buy a car before the move, Im thinking of buying something cheap, making a down payment, and doing a 60 month term on the financed balance. In about a year, after the move and after more money has been saved, we will trade-in the car and buy a more long-term vehicle.The question Id like some help evaluating is if this is a wise idea or not. I understand longer term financing will increase the interest rate, but since retaining money right now is the priority, I think this could be worth doing in order to get a lower monthly payment.Thanks!  <response>: My advice is to use the same tactic when buying a new car from the dealer: monthly payment amounts are red herrings and arent important to simply paying as little interest as you can.It applies here too because if you pay less towards the car, then that means youll have a higher balance due on the car when you go to sell it - if the interest rates are the same, its a zero-sum game. It doesnt do you any good to pay down 1,000 in principal and owe 14,000 when you need to sell the car vs paying 2,000 and owing only 13,000. Your net worth is the same. The difference is that if you get a lower rate, then you will end up owing say, 12,800 in the above example monthly payment would be double, but you will have paid off more than 2x of the principal. So you will come out ahead if you have the lower rate, no matter what the monthly payment is.Add that to the fact that paying the loan down faster increases the chances of not being upside down, and thats another vote for getting a shorter term.The only way getting a longer term works for you is if you really dont have the money to pay the shorter term. But you mentioned saving in the post, and if youre going to save money, you might as well have those dollars earn you 5 or whatever the loan is by being applied to your car and preventing that interest from accruing. 