It all depends how old you are. Im 20 and i've just been through the same thing.
RAC gave me a great loan with great repayments etc. Easy to deal with and in THEORY had it all worked out in under 2 days.
The worst part was like Strich9ine said. They hate grey imports (silvia's, skylines, 180sx etc), which i didnt find out untill the last minute (which is where i had big problems). Unless you have a 20% deposit they wont hand over a cent.
If your after a 200sx, wrx, falcon, commy etc they'll have no problems whatsoever. Find a car, do the basic things and they'll write you a cheque.
Insurance will kill you, and if your around 18-21 expect around 3-$4000 from a company like Famous or Just Cars etc.
One thing is NEVER go through dealer finance. It can look good on paper, but it can cost you so much more