I just blew some dough buying my daughter a car, a Hyundai Tuscon. For whatever reason, the dealers are really pushing the financing. I think they are getting incentives from the mfg or banks.
It really should make no difference, but it seems too.
The steps really shouldn't be different, negotiate the price for the car, then negotiate the financing. What you don't want to do is fall into the trap of "what do you want your payments to be" and they try to sell you a deal with 72 month financing.
In my case, we made the deal for the car, then I noticed 0% financing on TV. I'm in NJ, but bought the car in CO, where she lives. The financing was .09% there, so I made her apply for the loan, she was approved, and we set up auto pay out of my high interest savings account. I'll pick up an additional $4,500 in interest and she gets the benefit of the timely payments on her credit score.