long story short... the most i got using the internet to negotiate was $1500 off MSRP. afterward i made calls to dealerships for inventory/price checks, and then went in to the dealerships that had the car in stock to negotiate. i ended up knocking a lot more than $1500 off MSRP, and ended up getting my is350 + sports pkg + nav + ML for somewhere much closer to invoice than to MSRP.

not to say the internet/email route doesn't work, but YMMV. definitely do your homework in advance. also, get as much information about allocations and inventory when visiting a dealership; that'll give you an idea as far as what's available where.

 

YMMV is true.

I've done same internet/e-mail method on the very popular Acura MDX 2 years ago and I've also got great result (=invoice price) when most dealers were willing to knock $1K to $1.5K from MSRP only (MDX was still very popular then).

No one method is right but I do agree that do you homework and know what you're willing to pay/afford before contacting any dealer.

Good luck!