Before you start your hunt, search online for the dealerships you intend to visit – bad service will usually mean bad reviews, so you can weed out a lot of the bad dealers without ever needing to visit them. It's also worth sitting down and having a think about exactly what type of car you want and how much you intend to spend – it can be easy to be swayed on the day.

Once you've got a hit list of dealers, an idea of what kind of car you want and how much to pay for it, it's time to go car hunting. I would advise bringing along someone for a bit of moral support. It'll feel less daunting to tackle as a twosome and your friend may have useful advice on the day.

When you arrive at the dealer's, go with your gut, if you get a bad feeling from the place or the service, walk straight out the door – for all the bad dealers, you'll find an equal number of good ones who give honest advice and aren't pushy. You should be left in peace to look around a car and there should be no issue taking it out for a test drive.

Once you're happy with which car you would like to buy, it's time to sort the price. Margins are tight so you're unlikely to negotiate a huge saving off the list price of the car, but you may be able to negotiate freebies like floor mats. Increasingly, dealerships make most of their money on your finance agreement so – if this applies to you – it's worth having some finance arrangements agreed before you go to look at cars, banks will usually offer more competitive interest rates than private or manufacturer dealers.

Happy hunting!