10 steps to the best car loan

[centsgirl]

1. Shop the loan separately from the car

2. Limit your loan shopping to a two-week period.

3. Get familiar with your own credit history.

4. Shop the total loan amount, not the monthly payment.

5. Don't assume the best.

6. Get the right tools.

7. Read the fine print.

8. Check the math.

9. Avoid conditional financing.

10. Investigate your lender.

[moneysense]

One of the most important things you can do when planning on buying a car, if it is a used car, is have the salesman run a CarFax on it.

This is a website in which you enter the VIN number of the vehicle, which can be found by looking at the dashboard of the car through the windshield, and once this number is entered, it tells you whether the car has ever been wrecked or damaged in any way.

Never buy a used car from a lot if they refuse to run the CarFax for you because that refusal will indicate that there is something about that car that they dont want you to know.