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In a perfect world, we'd all be able to go to our favorite local car dealership and drive away in a new dream car, paid for in cash. But here in the real world, the average price of a new car is $28,400. Since very few people have that much cash handy, most folks rely on getting a car loan in order to pay for their new (or used) car. Your car will be considerably cheaper overall if you get the best car loan deal possible. Here's how to do it.

Know Your Credit Score
Before you jump into financing a car, check your credit report. If your credit score is low, you will pay much, much higher interest rates than if you have good credit. Something as simple as closing a few credit card accounts or lines of credit that you don't use and not applying for any new credit can improve your credit score dramatically. If you’ve missed a lot of payments, consolidating your debts and keeping current on payments for a while may be the only way to repair the damage.

Shop Around for Loans
Your bank, a bank where you are not currently a customer or an online lender are likely to have lower interest rates than the dealership where you buy your car. Shop around and make sure that you know the going auto-loan interest rates for someone with your credit score before you set foot in a dealership. That way, you’ll be able to know whether the dealership's financing is a good deal or if you can get a better one somewhere else. It will also give you more negotiating power when the dealer corrals you in that back room. Interest rates are often negotiable.