Dollar for dollar, the mid-sized car market offers the best bang for your buck. But there's a trap a lot of mid-sized buyers are falling into that can drive up the cost of a car purchase.

Drive out price for an entry level model in the mid-sized market can be below $20,000. But most people spend 50% more by adding options on.

I'm here to get you to reconsider buying the entry level for any model you're interested in. Your monthly payment will be one third less than if you pile on fancy options!

A solid mid-sized sedan can start around $18,000 though you can run that price up to $40,000. The Wall Street Journal  reports Toyota and Honda used to own market as a shared duopoly with the Camry and Accord, respectively. But today, they're getting competition from other sedans from many different automakers.

Meanwhile, Nissan is cutting the price of seven different models for the forseeable future. Let the price war begin!