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Here are ways that shopping for a new car online can work to your advantage:

Save time and energy
Using the computer lets you travel at Internet speed to consult with dealerships about price and vehicle availability. You can identify dealers that have the specific make and model you want in stock and compare prices from many more dealerships than you could easily cover by going from lot to lot.

Preserve your identity
Everyone is equal on the Internet. Studies have found that certain consumers, notably women, minorities, and young adults, are routinely subjected to condescension and discrimination in the auto-buying process, and often end up paying higher prices when they venture onto dealers' lots.

Communicating with dealerships online allows you to minimize the personal information you have to share. Most of the car-buying sites require only that you provide your name, an e-mail address, and a phone number so dealers in their network can respond to your request. The dealers don't have to know whether you are young or old, short or tall, male or female, or even an English speaker, nor do they have to know the color of your skin.

Extend your reach
If you live in a rural community or small town where dealerships are few, you can use online shopping sites to test the market in other areas, collecting dealers' bids and vetting their responses. Do this by entering the ZIP code of another area when requesting price quotes. Armed with names of dealerships selling specific vehicles at prices you know, you can schedule a productive car-buying trip.

Narrow your choices
Dealership price quotes can tell you a lot about which vehicle configurations are readily available and which will be harder to find. If you get a lot of quotes for a different configuration than what you entered, this could be a signal that your configuration will be hard to find, making it difficult to generate competing bids.

Size up the salespeople
The dealership staffer who responds to your online price-quote request will probably be the dealership's Internet sales manager, and this person will play a big role in your buying experience. By judging the quality of information he or she sends, you can determine whether the dealership is one you'd like to work with. After sending a request for a price quote, it's reasonable to expect a timely, complete, and courteous response. Ideally, the information provided will describe the vehicle or vehicles that match your specifications, itemizing any options that affect the ultimate cost. It will also include a precise-and competitive-price, indicating any surcharges such as destination or document-processing fees that will affect the bottom-line figure. Vague invitations to stop in to chat or, worse, unsolicited phone calls bugging you to schedule a test drive should warn you of dealerships to avoid.

Compare prices
Getting price quotes from a range of car-buying sites is a good way to see what dealerships are trying to get for a specific vehicle and size up how aggressive they will be. Keep in mind that these quotes may not be the lowest prices you can get. If you aren't satisfied with the prices you're offered, don't hesitate to phone or e-mail the dealers again, asking whether they can beat the best offer you got in the first round.

Close the deal
Once you find an acceptable price, call the dealer to verify the numbers. Emphasize that you don't want to see extra fees or other surprises when you show up to close the deal. If you're planning to finance, go in knowing the loan rates available elsewhere and ask the dealership for its best rate.

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