Never had a car loan in over 20yrs of driving, i've leased a couple but personally I think If i can't afford to pay for it...I can't afford to drive it.
A car dealer with a 30k car will have between 2-5k of puff in their price..so min 1.5k off.
Private sales are fun, if you're any good you can generally crunch the shit out of the price and get a far better deal than a yard can offer. But never forget Caveat emptor.