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No two people will ever agree on the top 3 tips of car finance.

Of course if you’re fabulously wealthy then you may not need any tips at all because you probably don’t need to finance that car purchase either. For the rest of us mere mortals, any help at all is beneficial if it makes easier the process of finding finance that is affordable and ‘fit for purpose’.

So, even though not everyone will see things in the same way, you may find the following thoughts interesting.

1. Know what you can afford each month by way of repayments – & be realistic!

Yep, we’ve all done it – falling in love with that car (or other item) and then trying to convince ourselves that we’ll be able to manage the repayments with a bit of belt-tightening combined with luck on the lottery. Maybe we’ll also get a vast and entirely unexpected Christmas bonus to help!

This is often the road to ruin. Firstly you could end up with a loan that you can’t afford and the car could be repossessed before you’ve even got used to it. Secondly your wild optimism and wishful thinking may scare off potential lenders before you start.

Lenders like to see that an applicant is being realistic and that their loan request makes some sort of sense when viewed against their income and existing financial commitments. Losing you heart to (e.g.) a Lamborghini may be fine but not if it means you end up trying to convince a finance company that you can pay them 1000 pounds per month back when you only have 750 pounds per month coming in, with 600 pounds of it already going out to other things.

Finance companies tend to get scared off easily by people they see as ‘dreamers’, so it may pay to avoid being seen as one.

2. The salesperson is not on your side.

If you’ve found and just test-driven the car of your dreams, then utter heaven may be the ‘I’m just like your favourite aunt/uncle’ salesperson who also offers you a “never to be repeated” or “I’m robbing myself blind” finance offer to go with it. All done in one easy stroke of the pen – car and finance combined.

Such a finance deal MAY be a good offer but it very possibly is no such thing and you’ll be paying far more for your finance than you could have found it elsewhere. There is absolutely no way on earth you can be sure about whether or not the finance being floated is a good deal until such time as you have compared it to another offer or offers.

3. Shop around & get expert advice.

Unless you’re very well qualified in the car finance business, you may find it difficult to look at a given option for a loan and say with confidence “that’s the best one”. The loans offered by the banks, building societies and finance companies all have their pros and cons and knowing which is the best for you may not be easy.

There are specialist car finance web sites around that may be able to help. Using their expert knowledge of the markets and the specifics of your situation may mean that you find deals that you would not have otherwise known were even around. It may be worthwhile looking at these sites a little more closely.

In this article in our series of finance job profiles we will be looking at the role of a Finance Director. Finance Directors are seen as being the most influential when it comes to making finance decisions within a business or organisation. This role is a very important part of the finance function and you will be in charge of how the company performs by creating and managing budgets.

Due to the importance of the role you will be expected to liaise with all departments within the business helping them manage the budgets you have set them and working closely with the CEO to improve profitability.

Like most job positions, the type and size of a business will determine your exact duties. For larger companies, a Finance Director will be involved in more strategic decisions and analysis and if the company is of considerable size they may employ Finance Directors for just one department or decision. For smaller businesses, there will probably be less people in the department, so your role will be more hands on with the running of accounts.

General activities that the job will be involved in include, creating budgets and making sure they are adhered to, managing people within their team, creating accounts, future planning, analysing competitors, monitoring performance and cash flow and general financial advice within departments.

Top level jobs like this role will involve plenty of meetings, working between offices and putting in extra hours where needed. The skills a recruiter would be looking for in a candidate for a Finance Director include, strong experience in that sector, good business and finance knowledge, good people skills, high maths skills, an analytical nature, good at problem solving, good decision making and good management skills.

Individuals wanting to make it to Finance Director will have to work their way up as it is such a senior role and will require plenty of experience in the finance and accountancy sector.

Moving on from Finance Director roles can lead to more general management roles either within the finance world or in other sectors. Many move on to start up their own business and some even become Chief Executives of the companies they work for.

To find out more information about the role of a Finance Director and current opportunities, you should talk to a finance recruitment expert.