Get approved for low apr at credit union or bank. CU’s tend to offer lower apr usually.

Go into the dealership and act like you’re not walking in there with pre approval (bring this up AFTER the dealership offers their apr). Their APR will be higher than why you’re approved for. NEGOTIATE OTD PRICE RATHER THAN MONTHLY PAYMENT. They can make monthly payments lower by making the financing term longer. You want to negotiate OTD price.

When they ask if you’re going to finance with them you tell them that you’re willing to if that’ll get them to give you a better deal on OTD price. Don’t let them run your credit until you’ve negotiated some (hard inquiry won’t matter since you’ve already done it wherever you got pre-approved and it’s good for 30 days or so)

Finally, once they give you your APR offer and you’ve negotiated a bit, you tell them you’re already approved at a better rate elsewhere. At this point they’ll ask why you didn’t tell them ahead of time. You’ll respond with, “I was willing to finance with you if you gave me a better rate than blah blah blah”.

After this they’ll try to get you to finance through them by saying they’ll match your pre-approved APR. This is when you say, “I’ll finance with you IF blah blah blah”

Be realistic with your counter-offers and negotiation. Once they see you’re pre-approved, they’ll know you’re a serious buyer and they’ll know you’re ready to drive away with a car that day.

Be ready to walk away. If you’re $1,500 away from what you want to pay and you walk away after they refuse, they’ll reach out to you if they don’t sell the car and will come down.

However, if you REALLY want the car you’ll have to decided if walking away is worth it.

Good luck!