When I was looking for a vehicle, I shopped around until I found one that I liked that had an estimated monthly payment I knew I could make. When I did that, I went to that dealership and told them my terms. They looked for me (for about 25 minutes) until they found a bank that was offering financing at the rate I wanted. You need to be aware of the interest percentage (try to stay below 10%) and the potential car insurance rate rising. My state requires full coverage on financed vehicle so I had to consider that in what car I purchased.
In my case, my credit did not have a lot of history, so the dealership tried to put me at $525 a month with 20% interest. The dealership I ended up finding got my payment at $351 with 7% interest. This was significantly more feasible for me to include the idea of repairs, gas, and car insurance at my age and where I’d work. Remember you are allowed to walk away if you don’t like your deal.
