I believe that bona fide rebates are offered by the manufacturer and displayed on their website and on KBB.com and Edmunds.com. When shopping for a new car, you should always check for the manufacturer's rebates available on these sites. Some dealers will not always tell you about the rebates, but will always apply them to the sales contract because they receive the money from the manufacturer. So, if you don't know that a rebate is available, an unscrupulous dealer can trick you into thinking you are getting a better deal than you actually are when comparing the price to the MSRP. A rebate is, in effect, a reduction in the published MSRP. So, if the MSRP is $30,000 with a $3,000 rebate, and you pay $25,000, you are actually only getting a $2,000 reduction in the effective MSRP. Knowledge is power.
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