Playing The Car Incentive Game

[jeffrey]

Rebates! No-interest loans! It's a great time to buy -- if you know how to play the incentives game. The thing to remember about incentives is that they're not a gift: Car makers wouldn't offer you a dime if the car could sell well enough at full price.

A big incentive might simply reflect tough competition rather than problems with the vehicle itself, as in the case of the Dodge Durango. In other cases, though, a rebate is a flashing neon sign warning you to avoid a particular car. Before you buy, you've got to determine whether the incentive outweighs the car's flaws.

"You don't buy a pink elephant sculpture just because it's on sale," says Jesse Toprak, director of pricing and market analysis for car research Website Edmunds.com.

Start by looking at the critical standing of all the vehicles of the type, and in the general price range, you're interested in. An hour or two of magazine reading and Internet clicking will reveal which models are held in high regard and which are also-rans... [read more at money.cnn.com]