Educate yourself about the market. Understand what you are purchasing. Many people don't understand how auto loans work. This is one of the biggest purchases you will ever make. Know your rights beforehand. Do your research.

HERE'S A BIG TIP: ALWAYS BARGAIN. The first quote you're offered is not the be-all and end-all. It's easier to get a better deal if you've been offered a good one by someone else.

For their part auto loans companies are not obliged to give you the best deal, despite what consumer web sites tell you. This 'somebody owes me' attitude is contrary to the basic spirit of capitalism: "Caveat Emptor", or "Buyer Beware!"

Be an intelligent auto loans acquirer. Take your time to find the right one. Do not treat auto loans like you are shopping at the supermarket. A serious seeker looks at their present needs in addition to their future prospects.

The best auto loans are easy to find. Just go to one of those sites offering to compare 200, 400, or 2307 different auto loans companies. The trick is finding the best auto loans deal for you, given your circumstances.

Don't take on a auto loans thinking "Well, I can always duck out". This is folly. You will find it very difficult, if not impossible, to get credit of any kind in the future, except at usurious rates. Also, the company you owe the money to will make an entry into your credit record. You will have shown you can't be trusted to pay back a loan, therefore why should any lender, hire purchase company or credit card company take a chance on you?

FOLLOW YOUR GUT INSTINCT. We are all archangels of the Lord. We are smarter than we think we are. Put aside your base desires, and ask youself, in your heart of hearts "Is this right?". Do that, and you'll make a lot fewer errors purchasing auto loans.

When you are a homeowner, you always have better chances of borrowing a secured loan for any given amount against your home, because your property acts as that security.

It makes me chuckle when I hear potential clients sing the 'cheap-cheap' song. You see the trend in pricing today is down, down, down; eventually, any auto loans-related good that can be reproduced by someone else will cost the same price everywhere. But you won't get the same value, especially if that good is a service.

Many companies web sites that talk about auto loans are faceless, anonymous. You have no idea who you're dealing with. They could be working out of a penthouse suite in Canary Wharf, or a teenager's back bedroom.

As with so many other purchases in life, there's a price point below which you'll not be getting a good deal. Price is important, until you run into difficulties. Then you may have a problem getting your loan re-negotiated, or even getting them on the 'phone.

Phrases that you may come across when dealings with auto loans are:

- APR, an acronym for "annualised percentage rate", the amount of interest charged on your auto loans plus additional fees and charges.

- Security, term used to describe assets or property put up as security for a loan. The company will be entitled to reclaim the assets as compensation if repayments are not kept up.

- Fixed interest rate, the type of interest that remains the same throughout the term of the auto loans.

- Term, the length of time over which you agree to repay your auto loan.

Variable interest loan rates may seem a better deal at first glance, but can be subject to a rapid growth, while fixed interest rates might start off at a slightly higher percentage but offer more security.

I get a lot of calls from people whose credit is bad, or who have CCJs (County Court Judgements) against their name. What can you do if this is the case?

Well, you can try to erase or ameliorate these black marks. First you check what a company might find out about you, when they do a credit check. Go to Experian and Equifax. Order your credit report from BOTH sites, as there may be different entries in each. Challenge any errors.

You can apply to the County Court to satisfy outstanding judgements against you, and have this entered in their records; it'll still count as a mark against you, but it will be more of a dark grey instead.