1. Know How Much You Can Afford

Part of getting the loan that you want is to make sure it fits your budget. For this reason, you need to calculate how much you can comfortably afford. Only you know just how much this is, and you need to try to stay below this figure when getting your new car. It will not help you to buy a car you really cannot afford to keep or maintain. Remember, when you calculate this figure, you should have an idea about how much car insurance will be, and other expenses such as gas.

2. Get Preapproved For An Auto Loan

Find a lender by getting several quotes and seeing how much they will lend you. This will save you time, and in many cases money, because it will enable you to start out knowing exactly how much of a loan you have to work with.

Once you are approved, the lender will issue you a blank check with a credit limit. All you need to do is find the car you want and fill in the check for the amount of the car. The loan is not actually in force until you sign it. If you don't, then the loan will be cancelled and the check becomes void after a short period.

3. Find A Car You Like

The next thing is to get an idea of the car you want to buy. You can do this easily by searching online. Then you want to find out how much that same car is selling for elsewhere, as well as looking it up in the Blue Book.

Be careful of paying a fee to see the cars at any car dealer. This is just a ploy to get you to give them some money so they can hold you there until you buy from them. You should not have to pay anything to see cars - or even test-drive them.

4. Negotiate Price

After knowing the price of what a car is worth, you can negotiate for a better price with the car salesman. Typically, you should be able to bring the car down to within a couple of hundred dollars of cost. They do need to make some profit, since this is how they put bread on their table.

Also, don't forget that you can reduce your payments more by making a down payment. The larger the down payment, the less you will need to pay each month. It is also true that if you keep the time for repayment as short as possible, it will save you more dollars in interest. Be sure to understand some of the things that the dealer may try to add to your agreement. Some of these may make sense - others are really unnecessary.

5. Drive Away

The obvious last step of the deal. This is where you can drive away with a smile on your face. Your research has told you that you came away with a good deal - and you are now comfortable with it. Enjoy your new car.