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Man, I'm glad I've never financed with a dealer. Your APR should be based entirely on your credit score and any special incentives the manufacturer is running, such as offers like "$3000 off or 0% for 60 months."
I'm constantly amazed by the fact most people don't know to run an amortization table on their loan before the sign it. It's the first thing I did when I considered buying my BRZ or any car I've owned. In some cases the 0% financing offered by the dealership ended up being worth less than the cash back and a 2.5% loan from my credit union.
Always consult with a third party lender, if for no other reason than comparing prices. I personally always choose to use a credit union as their business practices tend to be less shady than a banks and their rates are usually better. My credit union is curretly offering 1.99% on a 60 month note where Bank of America wants 2.34% and Subaru wants 2.9% per their "TrueLove" event.
Also, always buy gap insurance. Cars quite honestly depreciate faster than anything else you could ever buy. When my Mini got caught in a hailstorm I thought for sure that they were going to total it out but felt relieved to know that even though I was $4K upside-down on the note that I wouldn't have to suddenly shell out that money to pay off the loan.
Gap insurance, which is bought at the time of the loan, basically makes up the difference between your insurance and the loans value. This can be huge and it's well worth the piece of mind that $300 can buy. Usually it's financed into the cost of the loan.
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