<prompt> Human: Im 24, and paid off my one college credit card after finding out that my mother was not paying that bill to cover my books and necessities, as she had insisted she was going to when we got the card. Im in the process of trying to pay a 19 but long-overdue medical bill off but its weirdly hard, so I think my credit is in the slightly-poor-but-not-terrible range. I dont want a new car, so I dont need a big loan. Im looking to take out something like 5000 to get a used jeep or subaru. Something reliable, easy to fix.There is a possibility that I might be able to get my dad to cosign. Hes the financially intelligent parent, but we have kind of a strained relationship and hes a hard guy to gauge. Can someone explain to me the pros and cons of getting financing through the average dealership versus through an unrelated bank? Your advice is appreciated.  <response>: So, first, if you have any money saved up, I always suggest trying to buy a cheaper car for cash.Second, assuming thats not possible:When you arrange financing through the dealership, they will arrange a loan through whichever bank they are partnered with. Sometimes this can be good, since you can get a better deal on a loan than you otherwise would as a sales incentive.Most of the time though and nearly always with used cars its bad. You end up negotiating too many points APR, monthly payment, and base price of the car and they can screw you on one of them.When you arrange financing through your bank or credit union in advance, you can go into the dealership and negotiate on one point only - the price of the car. Thats the point that matters. Theyll try and sell you hard on using their financing. Insist on getting a firm price set for the car before discussing financing, and then you can see if theyll beat your banks offer for APR. 