If you go that route, be sure to read the terms of refinancing. In essence, a refinance means someone else (another lender) pays the car off to give you better terms. Unfortunately, the car being paid off sometimes comes with penalties from your original lender - fly by night dealers will do anything to take advantage of these kind of things to make $

Correct. Although if the dealer doesn’t accept outside financing, you’d be best moving on and giving your business to a dealer that does (most do)

You can always refinance your loan. I did and over the course of my loan will save around $1400 because I received more favorable terms. Keep in mind you’d be running your credit again and that can impact your credit score

1. You research car prices, find the one you want, and figure out how much the car will end up costing you out the door. E.g., you figure you want to buy a Honda Accord for an out the door price of $26,500.00

2. You apply for a loan for this amount, or even say, $30,000.00 to give yourself some wiggle room. You do not actually owe $30k, that’s just the limit you’re approved for, much like your credit card’s monthly credit limit. You can use that same $30k loan approval for an even cheaper car, remember you’re just in the approval process

3. After being approved for a loan up to $30k, go to the dealer and tell them you have your own financing. Your lender/credit union/financier will provide you with documentation to show the dealer and will then be the entity that purchases the vehicle for the entire price. Keep in mind the financing terms (APR, length of loan, etc) are handled during the loan approval process which will calculate how much your monthly payment will be.

4. You drive home in your new vehicle after all the paperwork is signed off between you and the dealer and from now on you will receive monthly bills from your lender to pay the car off on the agreed upon terms of your loan. At this point you should 100% be done with the dealer as the relationship between you and your lender is all that exists in terms of paying the car off. Your lender paid for the car in full at this point

Keep in mind many lenders allow you to pay off the car in full at any time without penalties, but do your research and speak with a loan officer to ensure this. Also, in my experience my auto lender literally takes over after I sign off on my purchase paperwork. They either wire the dealer the money or send them a check, bottom line I don’t handle anything beyond driving the car home and owing car payments to the lender

He’s a saaaaaaaad panda