<prompt> Human: Hi all, my girlfriend is thinking about getting a new car. Right now were looking for vehicles in the 10,000 - 15,000 range. Initially, when we went in we were thinking about a 48 month car loan as we wanted to have the car paid off in full in no more than four years.After talking with the salesperson, he mentioned to us it might be smarter to get a longer car loan I dont really want to more than 60 months cause the interest rate increases right and pay off whatever the difference would have been towards the principle. Im sure situations vary, but would getting a longer loan and paying off the principle make more sense than a shorter loan without paying towards the principle?  <response>: No. Even if the rates were the same, it wouldnt make any difference financially - youd pay the exact same amount overall and this makes sense - each month the same amount of interest is generated, the payments are the same, so the amount to principal is the same. The only benefit is if you need to make smaller payments for a while due to an emergency or something you can do that with the longer term loan just stop paying the extra.But, of course, rates probably arent the same. With more risk to absorb for longer term loans, rates for longer terms are generally higher than shorter terms. Different lenders have different points where the rates jump. If yours is the same for 48 months as it is for 60, then yeah, the 60 is fine in case you need that flexibility of a lower payment, but its not going to save you any money by going to 60.Now, getting a longer term loan can save you money, but by deliberately not paying any extra towards principal and investing instead, but this only works for low rates when your expected investment return is higher than the APR. Like Im getting a loan now for 1.99 for 7 years. I can afford a 3-year loan payment, but Im essentially bettingassuming I can get more than 1.99 on my money by investing it, so Im going to pay as little as possible long term, little down so I can invest the rest say the 3-year payment is 1,000 and 7-year is 600, Ill pay 600 and invest 400 every month and in the end, have a higher net worth that 400month makes me, say, 5 a year, I profit 3yr.Ive financed 7 cars now, and when I was younger, was very happy with 4-year terms on lower cost cars. It gets you paid off by the time repair bills get serious. Only do the long term loan thing when you can really afford it. 