Dear Diary,
Welp, they tried to rope me into a payment that I can not afford no matter how you dice it. But I did prove to Nick that they can get a car on their own, and get a better deal to boot.
I also let the sales guy know that if he comes up with a car in my range (10-11k) then we'll talk, but there's no way in hell I can afford 378 a month right now.