Have you ever felt like you bought an auto and financed it and don't really know if you got
right price or financing arrangements after it was all over? Well, don't feel alone. This is a common experience for many people who make auto purchases.Guidelines for negotiating
car price can be found elsewhere, but we want to share some helpful tips on getting that vehicle financed at
best rates and terms for you.
The first step is to make sure that you negotiate
car's price separate from
vehicle financing arrangements. Most dealers want to lump it all together because they can hide quite a bit of
actual price of
vehicle in
loan contract, and they will usually just try to meet a monthly payment figure that you can live with rather than disclose all
details about
loan.
So your work actually should begin before you ever visit
dealer lot. Try to determine beforehand what vehicle(s) you are interested in buying and become familiar with
average cost for that vehicle, either online or locally. Then make sure that it will fit your budget. Most financial experts recommend that you shouldn't spend more than 10% of your monthly income on vehicle costs, including
loan, gas, repairs, insurance, etc.
Since you now know
price that you want to pay, you need to find out what
loan will cost, so visit some auto loan websites and/or local banks, and apply for an auto loan. See what rates and terms they offer you. Much of that will be determined by your credit history. If you can get pre-approved for a loan, all
better.
Experts also recommend that you try to put at least 20% of
car price on
loan as a down payment toward
purchase of
vehicle, either in cash or in
trade equity of your current vehicle. Why? Well, so many people are being put into loans these days with longer and longer payback periods and little down payment and
net result is that if they want to trade that car in within
first year or so they find that they actually may owe more on
car than it is even worth. So using sound financial decisions beforehand can prevent this from happening.