New cars these days have better safety features and more technology gizmos than versions from a decade past. And let’s face it: Trading in a beat-up clunker with grimy seats is an enticing idea.

However, many Americans make large mistakes purchasing automobiles. Take new automobile purchases using a trade-in. A third of buyers roll over an average of $5,000 in debt out of their last car into their brand new loan. They’re paying for a car they don’t drive anymore. Ouch! That isn’t a winning personal finance strategy.

Here is how to get a car without becoming over your head in debt or paying over you must.

5 Tips For Buying A Car The Smart Way

• Get pre Approved for a loan before you set foot in a dealer’s lot.

He is the autos editor in the private finance site NerdWallet. He also worked undercover at a car dealership to learn the secrets of the company if he worked for the car-buyin.

To begin with, he says, getting a loan from a lender outside the car dealership prompts buyers to consider a vital question. “Just how much car can I afford? You want to do that before a salesperson has you falling in love with the limited model together with the sunroof and leather seats.”

Reed says getting preapproved also shows any problems with your credit score. Before you start car shopping, you might want to build up your credit score or receive incorrect information off your credit report.

And shop around for the best speed.

Van Alst says lots of people don’t realize it, but the dealership is allowed to jack up the speed it offers you over what you really qualify for. So with your credit rating,”you might qualify for an rate of interest of 6 percent,” states Van Alst. But, he says, the dealership might not tell you that and give you a 9 percent rate.If you take that lousy deal, you can spend thousands of dollars more in interest rates. Van All states the dealership and its finance company,”they will split that extra money.”

So Reed says with that pre approval can be an important card to get in your hand in the car-buying game. “If you’re pre approved at 4.5%, the dealer says,’Hey, you know, I can get you 3.5. Would you be curious?’ And it’s a fantastic idea to take it, but make sure all the conditions, meaning that the down payment and the length of the loan, stay exactly the same.”

1 word of caution about lenders: Van Alst says there are lots of unethical lending outfits working online. Reed says it is a fantastic idea to decide on a mainstream lender, credit union, or other lenders whose name you recognize.

• Keep it Simple at your Dealership.

If you are buying a car at a dealership, concentrate on one thing at a time. And if you’re playing cards, you don’t hold them up and say,”Hey, everybody, look — I have a pair of queens,” correct?

So at the dealership, Reed and Van Alst both say, the first step is to start with the price of the car you are buying. The salesperson at the dealership will often wish to know if you’re planning to trade in another car and whether you are also looking to find a loan through the dealership. Reed says don’t answer those questions! This makes the game too complicated, and you’re playing against pros. If you negotiate a really good purchase price on the vehicle, they may jack up the interest rate to earn extra money on you which way or lowball you in your own trade-in. They can juggle all those factors in their mind at once. You do not want to. Keep it simple. 1 thing at a time.

As soon as you settle on a price, then you can talk about a trade-in if you’ve got one. But Reed and Van Alst say to do your assignments there also. A little research on the internet can tell you exactly what your trade is worth in ballpark terms. On Autotrader, you may even see what people in your region are asking for your automobile model. And he says,”You can get a genuine offer from Carvana.com and by taking the car to a CarMax, where they will write you a check immediately.”

So he and Van Alst say don’t be afraid to walk off or purchase the vehicle at a good price with no trade-in if you feel the dealership is lowballing you in your previous vehicle. You’ve got loads of other good choices these days.

• Do not buy any add-ons in the Dealership.

If you have purchased a car, you understand how it works.

“You are led to this back office. They’ll often refer to it as the box,” says Van Alst. This is the point where the dealership will try to offer you extended warranties, tire protection plans, paint protection plans, something called gap insurance. Dealerships make a lot of money on this stuff. And Van Alst says it is often very overpriced and the majority of people don’t have any clue how to find out a reasonable price.

“Is this add-on, you know, being marked up 300 percent? You don’t really know any of that,” Van Alst states. So he and Reed say a good strategy, especially with a new automobile, would be to simply say no — to everything. He says especially using longer-term loans, there’s more wiggle room for traders to attempt and offer the extras. The finance person might try to let you know,”It is only a bit more cash per month” But that money adds up.

“So if you’re purchasing a new vehicle, you can purchase it in three years from now, before it goes out of warranty.” At that point, if you’d like the elongated warranty, he says, you should call several dealerships and request the best price each can offer.

Gap insurance claims to cover any difference between the purchase price of replacing your almost-new car with a brand-new car if your regular insurance doesn’t pay for complete replacement if your car gets totaled. If you still need the product, it is best to get it through your normal insurance provider, not the seller.

• Beware longer-term six- or seven-year car loans.

And that’s”a really dangerous tendency,” says Reed. We have an entire story about why that’s the situation. However, in summary, a seven-year loan may mean lower monthly payments compared to a five-year loan. However, it will also mean paying a lot more cash in interest.

Reed says seven-year loans often have higher rates of interest than conventional loans. And like most loans, the interest is front-loaded — you’re paying more attention compared with principal from the first decades. “Many individuals don’t even realize this, and they do not understand why it’s dangerous,” says Reed.

Reed says that in case you want to sell your car — you pick you can not afford this, or perhaps you have another kid and need a minivan instead — with a seven-year loan you are way more inclined to be stuck still owing more than the car is worth. So he says,”It places you at a really vulnerable financial situation.”

A better way to go, Reed says, is a five-year loan for a new automobile and”with a used car you really ought to finance it for just three years, which will be 36 months.” One reason that makes sense, he says, is that when your used car breaks down and isn’t worth fixing — state the transmission totally goes — you’re more likely to get repaid the loan at that time.

Reed says a five-year loan make sense for new automobiles since”that has been the traditional manner — it is kind of a sweet place. The payments are not too high. There will still be worth in the car at the end of this five years.”

Additionally, Van Alst and Reed say to make sure traders don’t slide in extras or change the loan conditions without you realizing it. Read carefully what you’re signing.

Reed claims a colleague at Nerd Wallet actually bought a minivan recently and”when she got home, she looked in the contract” She had asked for a five-year loan said the dealership instead stuck her having a fixed-rate loan. “And they comprised a mill warranty which she didn’t request and she didn’t want.” Reed says she was able to cancel the whole contract, remove the extended warranty and get a rebate on it.

“However, the point of it is,” he states, “I mean, here is someone who is very fiscally savvy, and yet they were able to do so to her. Plus it’s not an unusual situation for people to think that they’ve got a good deal, but when they go home and examine the contract they find out what’s been done .”

5. Don’t buy too much car.

“The golden rule is that all your car expenses should really be no longer than 20 percent of your take-home cover,” says Reed. And he says that that’s complete car expenses, such as insurance, gas and repairs. “So the car payment itself should be somewhere between 10 and 15%”

And when a new car with a loan does not fit into your budget, you may decide you do not actually desire a brand-new car.

“We are really living in a golden era of automobiles that are used,” says Reed. “I mean, the reliability of used cars is remarkable nowadays.” Reed says there’s an endless river of cars coming off three-year leases which are in very good form. And cars that are older than this, he states, are definitely worth considering. “You know, people are buying good used cars at a hundred-thousand miles and driving them for another hundred-thousand miles,” says Reed. “So I am a huge fan of buying a used car for a means to conserve money.”

He acknowledges what car you buy things and that it’s a good idea to read reviews and ratings about which brands and versions are less likely to run into expensive repair problems in the future. He states some European automobiles are famously expensive to keep.

And we asked group members about car purchasing. Many said they were shocked by how much money some other people in the group said they were spending on automobiles. Patricia and Dean Raeker from Minneapolis composed,”40 years of owning vehicles and our total transportation purchases do not even add up to the cost of one of the financed ones these people are referring to.”

They state,”our greatest, latest purchase was a 2004 Honda Accord for $2400, bought last year, that using routine maintenance could probably last another 100,000+ mph” And they say they”can’t know those who insist on forcing their retirement funds away.”

Even if you buy a somewhat newer used car compared to the Lakers’, the few raises a fantastic point. What else would you’re spending that car payment cash on? And in the event that you’re able to cut half what you might otherwise invest, that’s a good deal of extra money for your retirement accounts, your kids’ school fund, or anything else you’d rather be doing with this money.