These days, most progressive and market-savvy car dealerships offer an online facility by which a customer can do a comparative study of available car models. Once the model has been decided on, the customer can get in-depth information on it and all this in the privacy of his living room (or wherever the computer is located). Furthermore, the dealership will offer links to loan sites that enable a customer to obtain an instant online loan on the selected model. These sites also help a customer select the most suitable loan.

This is certainly a change from the days when a prospective car buyer had to pull freight all over town and sometimes out of town in order to find the best deal on a new or used car. Even after all the footwork, the amount of information was usually very limited. Afterwards, researching for and obtaining an auto loan meant another series of visits to various banks and loan agencies.

In comparison, applying for an auto loan online is almost instantaneous these days. Under the most favorable circumstances, the entire process of being either accepted or refused usually does not take longer than an hour and a half. This is not always the case, of course, and depends on which auto loan site is being accessed, as well as the customers overall credit status. The claim of providing instant online auto loans can be misleading in some cases but even then, the customer is spared the grueling footwork and a process that could take as much as a week under other circumstances.

The best online loan agencies refer your application to various different car dealerships, and the resultant responses further enable you to pick and choose among them.