I was thinking the same thing when I bought my new `03 GT vert a few weeks ago with the $2500 rebate. But I did not have any extra haggling power because I was looking for something specific, and there were not many `03's left in the exact configuration I wanted. I called ten dealer's before I found the car I wanted (silver GT vert, auto). The dealer was aware of my situation... even when I was calling other dealers earlier asking for an '03 silver GT vert auto, most of them answered the phone, "can you be more specific?". So, it's a question of how fussy you are about what you want. In my situation, I was faced with either paying "top dollar" for the `03 but with the $2500 rebate, OR just ordering an `04 with NO rebate and probably being able to haggle some, but I doubt I'd be able to haggle a whole $2500 off the new price... or to do so I'd have to visit a bunch of different dealers and fight like a dog to do it, and I don't have time or that... so going the rebate route netted me the exact car I wanted for the least amount possible the best I can figure. Since there is no physical difference between the `03 and `04, it doesn't matter... and I don't plan to sell the car anytime soon so the model year itself means nothing. If you are not fussy about the color and are willing to take just about any `03 the dealer has laying around, you will have better luck trying to haggle on a rebate car. The rebate program definitely seems to be a great thing for the dealers. As for trying to get the best price on the planet... remember, you can wind up spending $2000 worth of your personal time and effort just to save $500 on a purchase... there comes a point where excessive searching and haggling can be VERY inefficient. The best plan is to find what you want, try to get the best deal you can without excessive time and effort wasted (like within a few days tops, not weeks or months), and then just pull the trigger, get the car and start enjoying it while you're still alive. And don't feel bad when someone else tells you they got the same exact car for $500 less or whatever, because chances are they wasted weeks of extra time and effort to make that happen... in which case you actually got a much better deal.