Faith + Reason = Truth

Do you have any idea of exactly HOW much money (and time) you can save by purchasing new vehicles over the internet?  A friend had been in the market for a large, gas-guzzling American SUV for several weeks, but couldn't bring himself to go to the dealer and hammer out the purchase price.  He had visited several to look and test drive, but wouldn't subject himself to the hostage situation that most dealers put you through for the negotiating process.  Finally though, the time had come to do something.  So he went to www.edmonds.com to check the MSRP and dealer invoice costs (www.kbb.com will give you this, too) for his fully-loaded, all-everything 2007 Tahoe.  The sticker came to something in the low $50's (that alone floored me when he told me).  BUT, there was a link to have dealers email you quotes, so he went ahead and requested quotes from dealers just out of curiosity.  I was all ready for his triumphant "I saved 5% without even haggling!" or "they knocked $5k off without even talking to me!".  But no, his story was even better:  lots of dealers emailed back, but the best was a single email from a dealer less than 50 miles away with no back-and-forth, with a bottom-line price of $40,400.  Over $10k off sticker.  He went and signed the paperwork and drove home in it the next night after work.
Now I'm certain that skeptics will point out "that's an American make", or "nobody's buying those big beasts anymore so there's a glut" or "they're about to release '08 models (no they're not, it's only a few days into April)", but STILL, you're talking 20% off, folks.  If you've been wanting a new vehicle but assume you can't afford one, you might go to www.edmonds.com or www.kbb.com and request quotes from dealers (do it at one of those places rather than through the manufacturer, because the manufacturer request will not route it to every dealer and the situation won't be as competitive as through a third-party site - and the dealers are keenly aware of the various competitive situations and what kind of pricing each situation calls for).  You might be surprised.