They aren’t trying to swindle anyone. You can literally ask the salesperson to explain the math to you. I have sold cars before and I promise you we aren’t getting trained to screw you that is done by the customer of their own volition. For the dealership it was always best to get you into the cheapest car that you could afford as that made for the most likely deal. People who get screwed either are not paying attention to the math which I would explain if asked.

Dealerships used to be able to screw you over easily but that was before the internet gave customers the ability to know everything about a car. That forced a lot of changes.