To pay the lowest price for a new car, consumers should arm themselves with a little information. The best bargain price is one that is at or below invoice, which is what the dealer paid the manufacturer. Most of the vehicles on our list sold at invoice price but a couple, like the Chrysler Crossfire, sold for $3,278 below invoice price ($40,055 sticker price).
The ill-fated Crossfire roadster/coupe, introduced in 2004, never really captured the attention of sports-car buyers, so Chrysler stopped building Crossfires at the end of last year. Sales peaked in 2004 at 28,000 and fell to just 8,216 units in 2007. Now dealers are selling off what's taking up space on their lots.
"The market is driving the price of [these] less-desirable cars," says Bartlett.
The one downside is that the bargain-basement prices only last as long as the cars do. The longer consumers wait, the less likely they are to get the best possible deal on a 2008 model.