Thinking about buying a car, but have bad credit? Luckily, buying a car doesn't have to be impossible even with a less-than-perfect credit score. While you may be subject to worse auto loan terms, there are certain things to be sure that you are avoiding a horrible auto loan. Here are four ways to do this:

1. Go Over Your Credit Score: The first thing you are going to want to do is go over your credit score and find any little thing you can correct. You can even report errors, which are commonly made. Even if it improves your credit only slightly, it can still lead to a potentially better auto loan term for yourself. 
2. Know What You Can Honestly Afford: Next, you are going to want to be completely honest with yourself about what you can afford. This means sticking to a certain monthly budget. However, don't rely on your monthly budget alone once you are ready to buy, because even if the cost of the car is affordable for you every month, you may still be paying a high interest rate. When you know what you can honestly afford, though, your chances of approval are higher because the lender will know that you are going to be able to afford it even with your bad credit. 
3. Negotiate: Too often, people with bad credit believe that they have no room to negotiate. However, this is not the case. Plenty of people are able to negotiate for a lower cost of the car even with bad credit. This is especially important to do if you do end up only being approved for a high interest rate. When you lower the car price, you are paying less and have an opportunity to fix your credit and then refinance soon in the future for a better interest rate. This is going to lead to you paying even less for the vehicle long term. 
   Some auto dealers, such as AutoStart , work specifically with people who have bad credit. So be sure to look for those types of dealers when shopping for a car and a car loan.
4. Try to Avoid Long Terms: Another mistake people make is paying for a long term loan. They do this in order to buy a more expensive car. However, you shouldn't do this, especially with bad credit, because you may be paying a high interest rate, which means you are paying much more for the car overtime. Try to find a more affordable car in order to shorten the loan term while still making it affordable every month. 

When you know these four ways to avoid a bad car loan, you can be sure that you end up with a loan that is reasonable even with bad credit.