Summer Car Savings

Other manufacturers will soon follow suit, predicts Jack Nerad, executive editorial director for Kelley Blue Book. "I'd keep my eyes open for another week or so," he says.

As manufacturer incentives increase, selection for those '06 models decreases dramatically, says Jesse Toprak, senior analyst for Edmunds.com. "If you wait until September, you may be able to get a few hundred dollars more in incentives," he says. "But you may not be able to get the car you want."

Before you head out to the dealership, hit the web. Some incentives are regional, and others — namely dealer cash (a discount manufacturers provide to dealers to help market the car and secure a sale) — aren't advertised. Fortunately, both Edmunds and Kelley Blue Book dig up every last incentive (advertised or not), and let you search for them by zip code. And they can be well worth your time. For example, through July 31, the Mercedes-Benz S600 has a generous $12,000 in dealer cash. That's a discount of nearly 10% off the $128,000 MSRP.

Ready to save? We've collected a sampling of available incentives: