My lease is up soon and I want to be sure I get what I want... which usually means ordering the vehicle four months ahead of time. So a little advance planning is in order.

Of course, if you've just been discharged from your bankruptcy, or your FICO scores are low, you should have different priorities.

Your main concern should be just getting financed.

Then you should concentrate on working with a car manufacturer, bank or credit union that reports to all three credit reporting agencies.

And finally, you want to find a loan at a single-digit interest rate with little to no money down.

Is this even possible?

Yes... keep reading.

Most of the time, your best deal is going to be on a car the dealer has in stock. I started out getting cars this way. But now, with over 13 years after my bankruptcy, I have more options. As your FICO scores increase and more time passes it gets easier.

I wanted to make sure I was well prepared before I talked to a salesperson, so I went to the auto manufacturer's website. After reading about all the new features, I still had questions.

Rob Lied to Me

I decided to return to the dealership where I purchased my current SUV.

Rob, the salesman who sold me the truck two and a half years ago, was still working there.

Oh, joy.

And he remembered me...

How could he forget?

He lied to me the last time I purchased from him. And by the time I realized it-there was no turning back. (Sometimes you just need to pick your battles.)

You see, in 2003 he sold me an SUV with the promise that it came with DVD navigation.

All the sales literature was very vague so I made it very clear to Rob that this was one of my motivations for getting the SUV. To make a long story short... the SUV did NOT have DVD navigation.

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