If you have ever had a good experience when buying a car, congratulations. The truth is, most people have good experiences when buying cars. But for some reason, many people are afraid of visiting a car dealership for fear of being manipulated into buying a car that is too expensive. Making a big purchase like a car and should be a well thought out endeavor. In this article, I'll give you a few tips to make this as easy as possible.

It helps to understand that car salesman aren't evil creatures out to steal our social security check. They are working folks just like you and me, who likely have a family depending on them to provide food and shelter. Just knowing a few things about how they operate can help.

The first thing you need to understand is that no dealer ever expects you to pay sticker price. Most cars are sold for at least ten percent less than sticker. Another thing to beware of is so called "invoice" price. Even if you pay below the invoice, the dealership, and the salesperson is still making money. There is something added into the price, or the "invoice" that is called holdback, which means the invoice really isn't the invoice.

Another trap people fall into is overestimating the amount they'll get for their trade in. If you search the Kelly Blue Book, the estimate you'll get will be inflated. When dealers estimate the value of your trade in, they use a whole sale estimate, which is often much lower than Kelly Blue Book. They are factoring in how much they'll have to spend to get your trade in into condition to sell.

Financing is another concern. If you can, get pre-approved at your own bank before heading off to the dealer. While some dealers are offering fantastic deals on financing these days, it never hurts to shop around for the best car loan. When you have a solid idea of what payments you'd be comfortable with beforehand, it makes it much easier.

To put all these together, you should be able to figure exactly what price you should pay, and exactly what your monthly payments will be. If you shop around on the Internet before even visiting the dealer, so much the better.