One of consumers' largest financial transactions – the purchase of a car – is often made on a whim. And when they combine buying the vehicle with financing it through the dealership, they often end up spending more money.

"People walk into a dealership and fall in love with a vehicle," Mike McWethy, EVP for the Houston-based First Service Credit Union ($621 million in assets, 59,488 members), said. "It's really easy to get the financing done through a dealer, but unfortunately it comes at a cost to our members, who are not properly educated or coached to handle the situation in a way that is not really going to hurt them."

While credit unions accounted for 9% of all loans held by financial institutions on Sept. 30, they accounted for more than a quarter of auto loans.

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