Also, the car dealer may want to charge you extra if you charge the car to a credit card. Those who accept credit cards pay a roughly 2 percent fee to the credit card company on each transaction. They may want to charge you for this.

I would definitely suggest a car loan. Keep in mind that if you wish to pay off the car early, you can still do that. Just make sure you get a "simple interest" loan (most car loans are simple interest) with no pre-payment penalty. With most car loans, it's fine to pay the car off early or mail an extra sum of money along with the payment to be applied to principal. This will reduce the total interest you pay and get the car paid off early.

I second what cowboy said...pay a little extra each month, even $10.00. It will make a huge savings over the long run!

Also, shop carefully for insurance. Each time your insurance is up for renewal, shop & compare premiums again...there can be huge differences in insurance costs. If you are paying $200/month with X company, and after 12 months you find Y company will give you the same coverage for $150, talk to X company. Often they will reduce your rate just to keep your business.

You may want to check a couple or three potential lenders, also. Probably get a potential loan lined up before setting up the deal regarding financing with the auto dealer, so you don't have to make the loan from him, also.

Many people who finance with a dealer don't realize that they're actually making two deals:
-buying a car and
-arranging a loan.

Always nice to have several strings on your violin, not just one.

The more possibilities you have, the more control you have.

It's your money - or, rather, you're the consumer, so you can make a deal anywhere you want. If you have several potential sources of money, you can choose the best deal.

If you have assets like a bond, stocks, etc. that you can use as collateral you'll likely get a better interest rate at lenders like a bank, credit union, etc. as well.

Good wishes with your new car.

I last bought (and the only time I bought) a new car in 1976. Don't propose to buy another new one, as the loss to depreciation is too heavy in the first couple of years.

Happy trails to you, Goldy.

ole joyful

However, you can also take a cash rebate instead of the low-rate financing. The maximum they're offering on any vehicle is $2,000. In most cases, 60 month financing at zero percent interest is going to be worth more than $2,000, so in this case I'd probably take the low rate rather than the rebate. But if you have some other source of low-rate financing, or if you plan to pay the car off relatively quickly, the rebate could be more to your advantage.

One more thing to think about: If you are going to take a zero percent financing offer, there is not much sense in making a big down payment on the car. It would be more to you advantage to keep your $8,000 invested, earning some return for you, rather than put that into the car, since Hyundai is lending you the money interest-free.