Wondering about the best way to finance a car loan?

You should know that a car dealership can make quite a bit of money when it comes to the financing of your car loan.

After you’ve gone through all the work to negotiate a good deal on the car price, you now have to deal with the financing department and their attempts to add more into your deal.

The finance department rep is working on commission and will do his or her best to add in items such as car alarms, extended warranties, undercoating, etc into your loan because these items make the dealership a pretty penny.

Although you’ve agreed on a price you’re comfortable with, you are now going to be steered in the direction of adding to that overall price through all the add-ons with the finance person.

Make sure you know going into your new car purchase that you don’t need to finance your loan through the dealership.

Since the dealership loan option usually comes with the above mentioned pressure and add-on costs, you may want to consider the following options when it comes to financing…

You can go to your local bank or credit union. While this takes more preparation and you can’t get it done on weekends or late at night, you may find more competitive rates here as well as less hard sell tactics like you will at the dealership.

To find the financing you need, you could always decide to look at the equity that you have in your home. Of course, you are now tying your house up more…but you may be able to deduct your interest costs (something your car loan doesn’t allow).

An online bank can give you competitive loan offers although you don’t get personal service and you have to make sure the bank is real and not a scam in any way.

A friend or family member could also be the source of your car buying funds, although it could potentially turn sour and affect your relationship in a negative manner.

Some other things to consider when you finance a car loan are your interest rate, credit score, you loan term and whether you’re buying a new or used car (new cars usually comes with lower interest rates).

Your interest rate can be affected by not only your credit history but also your geographical location. You’ll want to consider not only the rate but also how many years your loan goes out as this will determine how much money you actually put out over the life of the loan.

Do your homework, take your time and make sure you are comfortable with every step of purchasing your next car.