You decided to trade-in your car and you are negotiating the price of a new one. The discussions are taking place in the dealer’s office and he draws a foursquare figure or uses a worksheet, adding the following: purchase price, monthly payments, down payment, and trade-in value.

By manipulating you to find out which one of them is the most important for you, he will make you feel like you are getting a great deal by lowering the figure, while in fact he will balance the finances by pulling another one of the three high. If you are not paying attention to all four you will end up where the dealer eventually wants you to be.

How to avoid: let him show you all he has to offer, take it, go home, and sleep on it. Analyze it the next day by looking at all angles. Negotiations should never end right away.