Getting approved for a car loan takes a little more finesse than just going and getting one. Almost anyone can get approved for a loan, but there are still many unethical practices going on behind the scenes of car loaning. Sometimes you walk away with an interest rate that’s so incredibly high that you’ll never pay it off when you’re applying it to your car, even if you make payments on time. The Better Business Bureau receives more complaints about car dealerships and the loans they give out than any other type of company, so even more caution may be needed in cases where you have to work with an auto dealer.

Check for Preapproval Loans Before Going to the Dealer

Finding loans before you visit the car dealer can save you loads of money. Not only are you already approved so you don’t have to spend hours getting approved and arguing about interest rates and payments, but you can walk in with your budget in hand so you know exactly how much you have to spend. This also gives you time to be picky about what loan you accept from which company so you can get the best possible interest rate on your loan. This helps avoid the middle man (as in, the dealer) and make money off of you that way – they can mark up a loan up to three points, and they often will mark up the entire three points because it’s one of the very profitable ways they make money.

Alternatively, you can bring cash and avoid a loan altogether, but often this isn’t possible for most of us, so choosing the best loan out of the available ones is the most excellent choice for anyone.

Stay Away From Extended Warranties

Extended warranties are an extra expense you will probably never need or want for a car. There will also be a number of other markups a dealer will try to sell you, such as Lojack and packages that pay for oil changes for life – most of these services are either overpriced or incredibly unuseful in most situations. Consider skipping them all together, and always make sure you look over your paperwork to make sure you weren’t charged for any extra service you didn’t want to sign up with – this includes 6-months demos that turn into high payments every month after that if you don’t call to cancel.

Check your Paperwork Carefully

Your paperwork is a legal binding contract, which means if you sign it and haven’t read it, it counts just as much when you had read it. So take your time and look over the document – and look for things like “financial approval is a condition of the sale”. If that’s in your contract, and you have any chance of not getting approved for the loan, the dealer can actually call you back and tell you to come in to rewrite your loan at a higher rate – or they’ll take your car. Both of those are unnecessary and unpleasant, so check over your paperwork to make sure everything is exactly the way you want it. If you have any doubts, take the contract to a professional so they can help you dissect what’s going on in your contract. It may cost you a little extra money, but it’s worth it so you know exactly what you’re signing.

To avoid the mess entirely and just have to stay at the dealer for the minimum amount of paperwork so you can go home with your car as soon as possible.

Author Bio: Elizabeth Roque is an in-house writer for FranklinDebtRelief.com. She presents information about debt relief services, credit card debt relief and getting out of debt on a variety of financial sites online.