I wish I found Camaro5 early like you. After buying 2 2013 Camaros in April (Apr 7 and Apr 26), I missed out on about $1,250 in extra savings on the first Camaro ($750 USAA and $500 GM Card Earnings) as I was in the same boat as you, uninformed of what was out there. Thankfully the first dealer was willing to deal on the sticker price (got $500 below dealer invoice). The second dealer was not moving from MSRP. The rebates and incentives are different on the 2013/2014 models so my situation won't fully apply to you. However, look into things such as:
Initial Discounts off MSRP (Usually only one of these can apply):
- Dealer may give you below MSRP or below Dealer Invoice price
- Credit Union Member Discount
- Military Discount (Active Duty, Reserves, Veterans within 1 year of discharge date, or Retirees)
- GM Family First (Employes and eligible family members and possible friends)
- College Discount (if you're in college or have graduated in the last 2 years, it is $800-$1200 off MSRP)
- Supplier Discount
- Costco Auto - If you're a member of Costco (or Sam's too I believe), they have vehicle discounts.
A lucky few can get a limited GM Private Offer ($1,000 pop-up that comes on GM's website now and then).
Also think of things that you may qualify for like:
- GM Card Earnings (your own or someone else's to get $1,500 off - see this thread:
http://www.camaro5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=349086 ) - Can't use with Employee discount
- USAA ($750 off if you are a USAA member - you DON'T need to have their insurancy anymore to get the discount) - I signed up 4 days before and got the discount.
- Farm Bureau - $500 off for members of participating state Farm Bureau
You can find out about other qualifying discounts by having the salesman pull up the vehicle and the list of discounts available and have him ask you each one. He/she will ask "Did you work for the railroads, were you in the military", etc. Some are very obscure and you wouldn't think to ask, but you may qualify for.
Some incentives, offers, and rebates cancel out others so it's good to find out ahead of time.
Don't expect the dealer to know or tell you about all the incentives. At the second dealer, I had to have the salesman go to Chevy's website and lookup the current offers for the 2013 Camaros ($2,000 rebate or 0% financing offered in April) because they had no idea about the 0% offer. He argued with me until he saw it on the website and then said "huh, I guess so". Don't think if your credit isn't that great that you won't qualify for the 0% or 3.9% or whatever. My score is 608, my wife's is 640, and we got 0% on BOTH Camaros. It was better than the $2,000 rebate because 0% saved us at least $6,000 on interest.
I also had to argue and get him to print the page for the College Discount. He kept saying "It's College Grad discount and I haven't graduated yet". I said that's not true, all I need is a valid current college ID if I'm in college, or diploma dated within the last 2 years.
Make up a spreadsheet so you know what your bottom-line number would be approximately for each scenario (I'll try to post the one I made up when I get home for lunch). The dealer will try to show you that their price is better, but sometimes they already include the rebates when your starting number does not! Know EXACTLY what the dealer is showing you on the paper with numbers and DON'T hesitate to ask them to break everything out line by line of each section, such as tax, tag, dealer fees, doc fees, etc. Sometimes they lump it all together and you think most of it is tax, when half of it is dealer fees!
If you have a trade-in, know what it's worth ahead of time by going to Kelley Blue Book, Black Book, or edmunds.com (or all 3 to get a good estimate). Try to get them to come close to the trade-in value. Don't let them give you a load of crap, unless your car looks/runs like crap!
That should cover the basics of what to look for when buying a Camaro and some things to expect, but by all means is not the bible to buying one. There are so many other factors for getting a great deal (time of month, day of the week, model, dealer, etc) that play into the final price! Hope this helps get you started. Good luck!