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Are you ready to escape the lease cycle and take the plunge into auto ownership? Congratulations, you’ve made an important financial decision that can benefit you for years to come! Now whether it’s your very first car, or your fifth, there are quite a few things to tackle before you drive off into the sunset.

First and foremost, it’s a great idea to checkout your credit score to see what lenders will see. Using programs like Credit Sesame will help give you an idea of your credit worthiness and how likely it is to get approved. Not only does Credit Sesame provide you with a free monthly credit score but they also provide personalized saving advice for things like your new car, next vacation or even your own home all without a credit card!  Next you’ll want to line up financing. This will not only prevent the heartache of falling in love with a car only to find out that it’s out of your budget, but also help everything run a bit smoother once you do pick out your perfect new ride. Luckily for you in our age of instant gratification, there are plenty of resources to shop around for your auto loan.

“Wait, did they just say shop around?” Yes, you did read that correctly. If there’s one thing you shouldn’t do when buying a car is applying with one lending and sticking to them, albeit that’s the easiest. When you buy your car lenders will base your interest rate, or APR, on your credit score. Unfortunately there is not just one way interest rates are calculated meaning that they can vary drastically from lender to lender for the same credit scores. You’ll want to find the best score possible and that means checking with multiple lenders. Even a small change can lead to a significant loss over the life of the loan. A 1% increase on a $35,000 car can save you almost $1,000 over the life of the loan!

You may also be wondering about how that may look to have multiple ‘hits’ on your credit. Don’t fear! While a loan application is considered a ‘hard inquiry’ (meaning that it is reflected on your credit score for up to two years), multiple auto loans in a short amount of time are grouped together as one. If you’re going to take the hit on your credit score (which only may go down two to three points – so hard may not be the best way to describe it) why not save yourself some money in the process!