[BeetleB]

I find people making the opposite mistake: They take the total cost of ownership, and say that paying an extra $8K for the car is a small fraction of the total cost, and over 10 years that's just paying an additional $2.20 a day, so it's no big deal.

$8K is $8K - it doesn't matter if it's all paid in one day, or spread over 10 years.[1]

I always notice how they like to look at the cost per day and not, say, the cost per year. I suppose if the daily cost still looks high they'll calculate the cost per hour. Or as in this case, the cost per use just because it makes the number even smaller.

[1] If you exclude opportunity cost. If you include it, investing $8K up front will likely give you better returns than investing $2.20 a day.

[alwayslikethis]

At current rates of inflation, it is actually quite a bit cheaper to pay over 10 years if you can finance it without much interest. However, your point stands -- this should not be used to justify purchases and to view things as cheaper than they really are.