Why drive around from town to town, wasting time and energy, when you can do your new car shopping online? New car pricing, specifications, details, information, photos, and much more is easily accesible on a great number of new car shopping portals. In the old days, new car dealers had the edge over the consumer, and most car buyers were limited to a small shopping region. Fortunately, the market is much bigger today with accurate information at hand. Car buying tips are available that give car buyers a huge advantage and help them get a great new car deal.

Buyers were generally less informed and at the mercy of new car dealerships before the Web. Dealer holdback, dealer cost, reserve, invoice price, dealer cost, dealership incentives, and other "secret" terms were rarely known by new car shoppers. Most people were only able to learn which options were available on the vehicle they wanted, the MSRP of the new car, and the price the dealership was offering it in the local newspapers. If a buyer wanted to know what options were available at other dealerships in the area, find out if there were better incentives at a larger or more productive dealership, or even find lower offering prices, they had to invest a lot of time and energy.

The Internet makes new car shopping simple. Shoppers can get their ducks in a row before they leave their house. Instead of showing up unprepared, they can go to the car dealer with an arsenal of information. The Web exposes them to true dealer cost, regional car dealer inventories, incentives around the country, car loan information, and more. All it takes is a few minutes and some clicking around on new car sites.

How do you get the lowest new car price? How do you make sure the deal is square? How do you find the perfect car with the best options? Just follow our advice:

Visit a lot of manufacturer sites and sites such as MotorTrend.com and ConsumerReports.com to research features, safety ratings, options, operational and maintenance costs, and much more. This way, you make sure you are buying the right car for you. It always sucks when you get a new car and then find out there is another vehicle on the market that would have been a better fit. Don't let this happen to you! Do your homework first.

Understand the best prices for your region. You shouldn't be unprepared when you go to the dealership. KellyBlueBook.com and TrueCar.com can ensure you have accurate pricing and know what to offer.

Third, locate the right car at the right place, and get the lowest new car price. Several websites will do this for you. iwantacar.com is an excellent site that will locate your new car and negotiate with the dealer to get you the best car price.

Now that you know who has the right car for you and the right price to accept, you are ready to visit the dealership. Visit the dealership, take the car for a spin, and tell the salesman you are ready to make an offer on the vehicle. Get the best offer you can. Then, leave.

NEVER purchase a new car the first time you visit the dealership. This is one of the best pieces of car shopping advice you will ever get. If you make sure the dealership knows you want to purchase the car, leaving is your best negotiating tool. The dealership will immediately begin contacting you with better offers. Make them sweat for a few days. Then, take their final offer and go get your new car. Congratulations. You win. If you follow this strategy, you will get the perfect new car at the lowest possible price.