Where do I even begin when shopping for a car?

I have never personally bought a car from a car dealership because I’ve been in this business since I was 17 years old but I can only imagine what it must be like. There are endless car lots out there, endless TV and radio ads and so many makes and models it’s overwhelming to even think about! So where do you begin?I’ve bloged in the past on car buying tips and who you should be and shouldn’t be buying a car from but I’ve never really talked about just getting started. Here are some thoughts and suggestions if you’re in the market.First of all, it’s a good idea to know what kind of credit situation you’re in. Car dealers love to charge good folks with good credit too much interest because they can get away with it. It would be a shame for you to have to pay thousands more than you need to just because you’re not sure if you have good credit or not. What I’d suggest is if you have a relationship with a bank or credit union, talk to them about pulling your credit to see just what you’re dealing with. Most banks and credit unions will pre-qualify you right on the spot so you have a starting point when shopping for a car. If the dealer can beat what your bank has to offer then great. They earned your finance business. If not, you know you have a way to go. Another suggestion is to ask the dealer what your credit score is. If it’s below 550chances are you’re going to have to pay a bit of a higher interest rate. If it’s 580to 620 that’s about middle of the road and 620 and higher generally should earn you and interest rate of under 10%. Hopefully this gives you an idea of where you should be.Second, I would suggest knowing where you want to be budget wise. There is nothing worse than telling a dealer you want to be at $200 a month and they show you car’s at $400 a month. It’s as if they are heart of hearing or block out things they just don’t want to hear. If you’re getting jerked around on budget just leave. I’ll bet you anything there’s another car dealer within a few hundred feet that won’t jerk you around and will show you cars at the payments you want. Believe me, there’s a lot of competition out there so you don’t have to settle for a car, a salesperson or a dealership that you don’t like.Third, I think it’s important to have an idea of what you want but to be flexible as well when searching for a used car. There are so many great cars out there. It’s almost impossible to pick a bad car these days. Let’s say you have your heart set on a Toyota 4-runner but you can only afford one with say 80,000 miles. Well you might run across a super nice trailblazer with 20,000 miles that’s the same price and trailblazers are great vehicles. Know what you want but be flexible enough to take advantage of a great deal if one should come your way.Finally, I’ve seen so many dealers go out of business lately! I would strongly suggest doing business with a dealer that’s been around for a while with a great reputation that’s not going anywhere. If you buy a warranty or trade your car in you want to know that the dealership’s going to be around and cares about their reputation. The economy’s been tough but it has weeded out the dealers that didn’t care. Every cloud has a silver lining.Folks most car dealerships are good places to do business. Most work hard and want to do right by you. I know what kind of reputation car dealers have but I can tell you it’s just no longer the case. The bad dealers have either gone or are on their way out of business. The rest of us just want to find you a nice car at a fair price.Happy shopping and don’t get jerked around!