When it comes to loan refinancings, the focus has been on mortgages. But some consumers also may be able to save money on what is often their second-largest purchase: their car.

The level at which interest rates have fallen makes refinancing your auto loan worth looking at, experts say.

“Interest rates have dropped substantially over the course of the last few years,” said Greg McBride, senior financial analyst at Bankrate.com, which tracks consumer interest rates. “If they go to refinance now, they’re looking at being able to save money if they can reduce the rate substantially without stretching the term of the loan.”

Auto refinancing isn’t talked about much, because interest rates are higher on used cars than they are on new cars. That’s because, unlike houses, cars depreciate in value quickly, making a used-car loan riskier for the lender.

But according to data provided by Bankrate.com, interest rates have fallen so much that the average used-car rate in 2002 was a full percentage point below the average new-car rate in 2000. That means if you bought two years ago, you could get a lower rate today for a refinance.

Of course, as with anything involving money, experts advise consumers to proceed with caution.

l First, pull your credit report. Just as when you’re refinancing your home mortgage, refinancing an auto loan entails getting a new loan. Make sure there aren’t mistakes on the report or forgotten credit issues that will lower your credit score.

“People should know their credit before they go,” said Philip Reed, consumer advice editor at Edmunds.com, a car information Web site.

If you got a high rate on your original loan because you had bad credit but since have improved your credit, refinancing your auto loan would be of particular benefit.

l Shop around and compare your current loan rate to what you would get if you refinanced.

For example, for consumers with excellent credit, PeopleFirst.com, an Internet auto finance company, offers rates as low as 5.29 percent for a 12- to 36-month car refinance loan, or 5.75 percent on a 27- to 60-month loan.

l Check if there are any prepayment penalties to paying off your old loan and the fees to get a refinanced loan.

“Put the pencil to the paper to make sure you’re really going to have some savings,” said Paul Richard, executive director of the Institute of Consumer Financial Education in San Diego, which teaches consumers how to better manage their finances.

l Make sure you’re not just extending the life of the loan. You don’t save money in the long run just by getting a lower monthly payment, if you wind up making more of those payments.

“If they stretch the term of the loan, that’s going to more than eat out any savings they get by reducing the rate,” McBride said. “The period of time of making additional car payments will more than offset the savings that you’ve earned.”

To crunch your own numbers, go to www.bankrate.com and click on Calculators. Software programs such as Quicken also have calculators.

McBride gave some examples. If you finance $20,000 at 8 percent for four years on a new car, and one year into the loan decide to refinance at 7 percent, here is how it would shape up under two different scenarios.

If you refinance the remaining balance of $15,581.21 after one year for four years, extending your original payback period by one year, you would pay total interest of $2,328.14.

“They would have paid interest of $1,996.10 by sticking with their original loan for the remaining three years,” McBride said. “Although the monthly payments decline by $115.15 — $488.26 on the old loan vs. $373.11 on the new loan they end up paying more by stretching the term an extra year.”

Instead, if you refinance for three years, not extending the term at all, at 7 percent, you would pay total interest of $1,738.48, instead of the original $1,996.10.

“The monthly savings are $7.16 — $488.26 on the original loan vs. $481.10 on the new loan — and the total savings comes to $257.62,” McBride said. “The longer your remaining payback period the better, because it gives you a longer period of time in which to enjoy the benefits of those savings.”

Clyde Porter of Arlington, Texas, did better than McBride’s example.

He refinanced his wife’s five-year car loan, which had a 9.45 percent rate, and got it down to 5.49 percent for 36 months.

He already had close to two years of payments on the old loan.

“I was trying to shorten the length of the loan and reduce my monthly payments,” Porter said.

He lopped off his total loan payments by four months, saved $16 a month on his monthly payment and will save about $1,200 in interest overall.

“It’s pretty straightforward,” Porter said. “I just crunched the numbers using the loan calculator on Quicken.”