Hello everyone 
I've been lurking here for quite a while, but have been content to just read and learn. I've been driving and maintaining a 1997 Corolla that I bought for cash in college, and 14 years of Louisiana sun and potholes are starting to take a greater and greater toll. I've never financed a car before and want to know what steps I should take to maximize my chances of getting a good deal.
I'm (relatively) new to credit, with a little over 4 years of history. I have a Citi Platinum card (opened 9/06, now closed, they hit me with a 29.99% rate-jack and I told them to pound sand) and an American Express (opened 2/07). Current utilization is $450/$4400 on the Citi and $3300/$5400 (at 14.5%, ugh) on the Amex, and these are both being paid down aggressively. I was stupid in my youth but I expect to be card-debt free (or very near to it) by the end of 2011. I have nothing else on my CRs - no derogs, collections, installments, etc.
My FAKOs (according to the Amex credit monitor, which I got as a free trial) are 741/741/733. The 733 is because I joined a CU back in March and they pulled a CR. I'm 26 and currently make $41K, though average pay in my field is quite a bit higher and I'm actively searching for better opportunities.
Though I've been putting it off for as long as I can, I'd feel a lot better if I had a feasible replacement plan in place within 6 months or so. The idea is to put $2500 or so down and finance the rest of a 2-5 year old compact (or possibly a newer Nissan or Kia). I want to buy something that I can drive long past the final payment so that I can pay cash for the next car(s).
So where do I go from here? My plan was to keep throwing as much as possible at my revolving balances and not bother making any credit profile changes; however, I'm wondering if there's anything else I should be doing in the meantime.