Get Your Own Financing
The biggest profit center for a car dealership is its finance department. Dealers contract with banks to get the best rates available but might not actually give you those rates. They might get you a car loan for 4.9 percent APR but draw up your finance contract at 5.9 percent. That one-percent markup is strictly profit for the dealer. You can often get a better interest rate from your local bank or credit union, or you can present the rates you were offered elsewhere to your salesman and challenge him to match or beat them. That being said, promotional rates from manufacturers—sometimes as low as zero percent—can be tough to beat.