Let’s take an example in which you agree to buy a car and finance $15,000 for 48 months at 6.70% APR interest rate.  Your monthly payments will be $357.11 per month. The total of all your payments for the life of the loan will be $17, 141. This means you are paying $17,141 – $15,000 = $2141 in interest, or finance charges.

Now, if you find a 0% APR interest loan deal for the same car, same price, you would pay only $312.50 a month and save $2141 in total cost over the life of the loan. You would be paying no interest and every cent of your monthly payment would be applied to reducing your loan amount.

Not a bad deal, right? Right. But maybe not the best deal.

Most 0% APR deals also come with an alternative cash back rebate deal. Typically, you can take one or the other but not both. If you take the cash back rebate, you must finance your loan at normal interest rates.

But, remember, the amount of your loan is less if you accept the rebate, even though you pay a highr interest rate.

Is it better to take the 0% loan, or the cash rebate?

To find out, compare the savings of a 0% loan to a loan at normal interest rate that includes the rebate amount.

First, simply divide your loan amount by the number of months in your loan. This produces your 0% APR no-interest monthly payment.

Second, use an online auto loan calculator (www.autoloancalculatoronline.com) to calculate your monthly payment at the normal interest rate, after you subtract the amount of the rebate from your loan amount. 

What is the difference in monthly payment amount?

In our example above for a $15,000 car, our payment with the 0% APR loan was $312.50. 

Assuming the car maker is offering an alternative $2000 rebate, that would reduce the loan amount to $13,000. Calculating our monthly payment, we find that the payment would only be $309.49, which is less than the 0% APR deal. 

In other words, accepting the rebate gives you a lower monthly payment than the 0% loan.

If the car manufacturer is offering more than $2000 rebate for this deal, it becomes even sweeter.

Generally speaking, it is nearly always better to accept a rebate than a 0% loan deal if you have that choice, and if the rebate is more than $2000. This is especially true if you are short on down payment money because the rebate acts as a down payment.

See the following article, Best Car Rebates, to find out which car brands and models have current rebate deals.

In summary, don’t automatically assume that a 0% APR deal is better than a rebate. In many cases it is not. Do your math before you decide and you may be surprised at the results.

However, Ford dealers still have leftover 2009 vehicles. Yes, that’s right — 2009 vehicles. They are currently offering huge discounts on those vehicles. The only catch is that you might not be able to find exactly the model, style, options, and color you want. The key to success is to be flexible and be willing to take what you can find.

Although you might balk at buying what seems to be a 2 year old car, these are brand new cars with full manufacturer’s warranty and lemon law protection. In some cases, styling hasn’t changed much, if any, in two years and the cars still look like this year’s models.

For these leftover 2009 cars, Ford gives dealers a “hidden” factory-to-dealer rebate (“marketing support”) that dealers then use to discount prices to customers.

Following are examples of the current Ford factory-to-dealer rebates for leftover 2009 models:

• Ford Explorer, F-150, Mustang – up to $5500
• Ford Edge,  Flex, Ranger – up to $4000
• Ford Expedition, Focus – up to $3500
• Ford Explorer Sport Trac – up to $2500
• Lincoln Town Car – $8000
• Lincoln Navigator – $6500
• Lincoln MKS, MKX, MKZ – up to $5500
• Mercury Grand Marquis, Mountaineer – $5500-$6500

Edmunds.com.The quotes will automatically include any cash-back rebates or discounts that are currently available.

You can get free price quotes on any of the above cars from

Most dealers now have large incentives on leftover 2010 models where 2011 models are already out.  Ford even has some big deals on leftover 2009 models, where available. The deals are outstanding but you might not have a big choice in colors or styles. Being flexible is the key to getting the best deals.

However, this doesn’t mean that good deals can’t be had on new models too.

For example, we’re seeing some great incentives and rebates on 2011 models from Chrysler and General Motors. These deals expire on November 1, 2010.

Chrysler currently has rebates in the range of $1000-$2000 on the 2011 Dodge Dakota and Nitro, Jeep Liberty, and Ram 1500,2500, and 3500. Chrysler also is offering low-interest loans on these 2011 models.

General Motors has rebates of up to $2500 on Buick Lucerne, Buick Enclave, Chevrolet Avalanche, Chevrolet Silverado, Chevrolet Malibu, Traverse, Impala, Colorado, Aveo, and Cruze. Reabtes up to $2500 are also available on GMC Acadia, Sierra, Yukon and Canyon.

In addition, General Motors also has “hidden” factory-to-dealer” rebates on the 2011 Cadillac CTS, DTS, STS ($3500), Cadillac Escalade ($2000), and Chevrolet Aveo, Corvette, HHR, and Impala ($4000).

General Motors is also offering low-interest loans, including 0% APR rates, on most of the above 2011 models.

Like always, car manufacturers never, ever announce new incentives until old incentives expire. In the case of the current June 2010 programs, most expire on July 6, 2010, right after the July 4th holiday. They don’t even announce new incentives to their dealers any earlier. That way, they can keep the old programs alive up to the last day.

How can we know if the July incentives, rebates, 0% APR interest loans, and special lease deals are going to be as good, or better than the old incentives? We can’t. However, we can make some good educated guesses based on our experience and knowledge of what drives incentives.

We know, for example, that car sales nearly always slow down in summer. People are taking vacation, the kids are out of school, the weather is hot, and gas prices go up due to heavier demand. Although sales are slow, which would ordinarily imply that car makers would throw incentive programs our way, it is not necessarily the case for the Summer season. Sales are going to be slow regardless of the availability of incentives and rebates.

Therefore, we think that, overall, incentives for July 2010 are not going to be any better than those for June. And in many cases, the incentives will not be as good. If you are thinking about buying or leasing a car now, and you can get a good deal now, don’t hold out hoping for July will be better. If you wait, it’ll be too late.

In fact, we think that incentives won’t start to perk up until about September, the traditional Fall buying season when many manufacturers bring out their new models. Fall and Winter are always good car-buying times.

There may be some exceptions, however. Toyota is still recovering from bad press over some of their problems of the last few months. They want to let people know they have solved the problems and that you can now get good deals on Toyota vehicles. Incentives will continue to be good.

Also watch for good deals on discontinued or sold-off brands such as Pontiac, Hummer, Saab, Volvo, Mercury. And there are still many 2009 leftover (and some 2010 leftover) models still in dealers’ inventory that will have good incentives.

We’ll all have to wait until after July 6th to see if we’re right about these predictions. Most new programs will not be announced until about July 8th or later.

We don’t have a crystal ball and car manufacturers don’t pre-announce upcoming car programs and incentives but we can make some pretty good guesses based on our experience in the business.

As you might know, the current round of May 2010 incentives ends on June 1. That means any new programs will be announced sometime after that date. Nobody knows just what new programs will be announced. Car manufacturers don’t even tell their dealers in advance.

Our guess is that June 2010 incentives will not be as good as some of the more recent programs. Most car makers blew it out in March and April, which created a couple of the best car sales months in years. However, they backed off in May and we expect to see some additional reductions in June. In fact, we may not see any more outstanding incentives until the fall buying season.

Does that mean we won’t see any good deals at all in June and during the summer? Of course not. There will always be some great deals being offered. It just won’t be on as many models and styles. And some manufacturers will be more agreessive than others.

Look for Toyota to continue offering attractive incentives just as it has for the last few months as it attempts to pull out of the sales slump created by its recent technical problems.

Also look for Toyota’s competitors to be actively attempting to get some of those customers  —  Honda, Nissan, and Mazda in particular.

Look for special lease deals to be plentiful in June. Car leasing is coming back strong after a two-year slump, particularly with non-American car brands.

Although rebates won’t be as large in June for this year’s models, look for especially heavy rebates on leftover 2009 models.

Finally, 0% APR loans will be more popular than rebates with car makers this summer. The reason is that with a rebate, they lose money immediately but with a 0% loan they lose money more slowly.

In summary, June 2010 car deals won’t be quite as good, overall, as in the last three months, but that doesn’t mean you can’t still get a good deal. You’ll have to watch for deals a little more closely and maybe hone up on your negotiating skills.

Why?

Because most car manufacturers are trying to get potential buyers’ attention by offer high factory-to-customer rebates, as well as other incentives. Rebates of $5000 or more are available on some brand and models. Rebates are especially heavy on leftover 2009 models.

Although we continue to highlight specific car brands and models that have good incentives, we thought it might be useful to look at those with the highest and best rebates right now.

Before we show you our list, let us remind you that rebates can sometimes vary depending on the area of the U.S. you live in and the rebates are limited-time promotional deals that will expire at the end of the month.

Here are the vehicles that currently have the highest customer rebates ($4000 or higher). All are for 2010 models unless specified otherwise.

• 2011 BMW 3-Series and X5 - up to $4500 rebate on selected styles
• Jeep Commander and Grand Cherokee – $4000 rebate
• Ford F-450 Super Duty, F-350 super Duty, F-250 Super Duty – $4000 – $5000 rebate
• 2009 Ford F-250, F-350, F-450 Super Duty – $5000 rebate
• Buick Lucerne – $4000 rebate
• Chevrolet Avalanche, Silverado 1500 Hybrid, Silverado 2500/3500 HD – $5000 rebate
• Chevrolet HHR, Silverado 1500 – up to $5000 rebate
• GMC Sierra 1500 Hybrid, Sierra 2500/3500 HD – $5000 rebate
• GMC Sierra 1500 – $4500 – $5000 rebate
• 2009 Buick Lucerne – $4500 rebate
• 2009 Buick Enclave, LaCrosse – up to $4000 rebate
• 2009 Chevrolet Corvette – up to $5000 rebate
• 2009 Chevrolet Avalanche – $4500 rebate
• 2009 Chevrolet HHR, Silverado 2500/3500 HD (and related GMC models) – up to $4500 rebate
• 2009 Hummer H2, H2 SUT, H3 – $5000 rebate
• 2009 Hummer H3T -$4000 rebate
• 2009 Saab – up to $9000 rebate on selected models
• 2009 Kia Sorento, Spectra – up to $5000
• Nissan Titan – $4000 – $5000 rebate
• Nissan Armada – $4000 rebate
• Nissan Altima Hybrid – up to $4000 rebate
• 2009 Nissan Altima Hybrid – up to $4750 rebate

If you are looking for the best rebates currently available on 2009 and 2010 (and some 2011), consider the above list. With these kind of high rebates, it’s not difficult to buy a brand new vehicle for less than a used vehicle of the same model that’s a year or two old.

You can get free price quotes on any of the above vehicles from Edmunds.com.The quotes will automatically include any cash-back rebates or discounts that are currently available.

Why?

Two reasons.

First, General Motors has announced that it is officially terminating the Hummer brand, and that it has only 2200 of them left.

Second, General Motors has put extremely attractive incentives on all remaining Hummers to help them sell. The deals would have been thought unbelievable a couple of years ago.

For example, customers can get $6000 rebate on 2009 models of the Hummer H2 and H3. 

If you like the H3T truck, you can get a $5000 rebate on the 2009 model and $4000 on the 2010 model.

You can alternatively get 0% APR loan deals on all models for up to 72 months. Of course, you have to choose the rebate or the 0% loan, but not both.

So what is the downside of these incredible deals?

First, your choices will be slim. You have to choose from the styles, colors, and equipment that dealers currently have in stock. Therefore you’ll have to be a little flexible if you want one of the good deals.

Second, resale and trade values on Hummers won’t be good anytime in the near future. If you plan to take advantage of one of the great deals, you should also plan to drive the vehicle for many years, or possibly lose money on a future sale or trade. If you take a long-term view, Hummers could easily become valuable collectibles in 25 years or more.

Good deals can also be created when manufacturers provide dealers with “secret” per-car factory-to-dealer cash. Even though dealers can use this money for advertising and sales promotions, much of it usually ends up back in customers’ pockets as price discounts.

For March 2010, we have identified where you can find the best deals:

Ford is leading the pack for March with excellent rebates and 0% APR loans on nearly every 2010 model in it’s line. With Ford’s rapidly growing reputation for quality products, good styling, and great reliability, it’s hard to go wrong. 

Chrysler is not far behind Ford, at least in terms of incentives. Rebates, on average, are a bit smaller, but 0% APR loans are available on nearly every model.

General Motors has very attractive rebates on all 2010 makes/models (except Cadillac) but fewer 0% APR loans, although very low interest rates are available on models that do not offer 0%. However, if you are interested in picking up a leftover 2009 model, you can get some incredible deals — rebates as high as $4000 ($6000 on Hummer H3 and H3T), and 0% APR on nearly every model.

Nissan is next, offering very good rebates, as high as $5000, on most 2010 models, and even higher rebates on some leftover 2009 models. Alternatively, Nissan is also offering 0% loan rates on nearly every 2010 model, as well as on 2009 models.

Hyundai/Kia comes next with some decent rebates in the $1000-$2500 range, depending on model and low interest loans (a few zero percent).  However, rebates become higher ($1500 – $5000) for certain 2009 models.

Mitsubishi is offering, for March, some modest rebates on every 2010 model except the Lancer Evolution, higher rebates on 2009 models, and 0% APR loan rates on nearly all models, 2010 and 2009.

Toyota, at this time, is offering limited rebates and 0% loans on most models. We expect to see more from Toyota later, possibly as late as next month.

Other manufacturers, such as Acura, BMW, Honda, Jaguar, Land Rover, Lexus, Infiniti, Mercedes, Subaru, Volkswagen, and Volvo, are offering only selected low-interest loan rates.

You can get free price quotes on any of the above cars from Edmunds.com.The quotes will automatically include any cash-back rebates or discounts that are currently available.

Dealer cash is  ”secret” money given to dealers by car manufacturers to help them sell cars. Dealers can use the money for advertising, sales promotions, or, more commonly, as price discounts to customers. In other words, the money usually flows from the factory to dealer to customer on the sale of specific vehicles.

It’s sometimes called “factory-to-dealer rebates” or “marketing support.” These incentives are time-limited and expire on a specified date. For example, the most of the current February dealer cash incentives expire on 3/1/2010.

So what vehicles are getting the best and biggest dealer cash incentives for February? Let’s take a look.

The 2010 BMW 6-Series and M6 are getting a whopping $10,000-$12,500 dealer cash, the largest we’ve seen.

The 2010 BMW 5-Series and M5 gets $7500 dealer cash.

The 2009 BMW 6-Series, M6, and 7-Series get $7,500-$10,000

Many 2009 Chrysler, Dodge, and Jeep models get $3000-$7000 dealer cash

The 2009 Cadillac XLR and XLR-V gets $10,000 dealer cash. Other Cadillac models get $4000-$7000.

The 2009 Land Rover Range Rover gets $8000-$9000 dealer cash.

The 2010 Infiniti FX50, M45, and QX56 gets $2000-$6000 dealer cash (expires March 31, 2010)

The 2009 Infiniti FX35, FX50, and M45 gets $5000-$6000 dealer cash (expires March 31, 2010)

The 2010 Volvo  C70, S80, V70, XC70 gets $3000-$6000 dealer cash.

The 2009 Volvo C70, S60, S80, V70, and XC70 gets $4000-$6000 dealer cash.

You can get free price quotes on any of the above vehicles from Edmunds.com.The quotes will automatically include any cash-back rebates or discounts that are currently available.

General Motors

Deals are especially good on 2009 models, which GM apparently still has plenty of inventory. Don’t expect to see outstanding deals on 2010 models until most of the 2009 models are gone. In many cases, there is very little difference between 2009 and 2010 models. Therefore you can save a lot of money by going with last year’s leftovers. The catch is that you might not be able to get exactly the style, trim level, and color that you want. You are limited to the cars that dealers have in stock.

2010 Models

Let’s look at some of the best General Motors deals on 2010 models first.

 The best rebates of about $2000 are available on a wide range of makes and models, including the Buick Enclave and Lucerne; Chevrolet Avalanche, Cobalt, Impala, Malibu, Suburban, and Tahoe;  all GMC models except Savana and Terrain; and Pontiac Vibe ($3000).

Zero percent (0% APR) loans are available for the Buick Enclave and Lucerne, Chevrolet Avalanche, Cobalt, Impala, Malibu, Suburban, and Tahoe, GMC Yukon, Yukon XL, Sierra, Acadia, Canyon, and Pontiac Vibe.

2009 Models

Now, let’s look at some even better General Motors deals on leftover 2009 models.

Buick LaCrosse and Lucerne – up to $4500 rebate

Chevrolet Avalanche, Impala, Suburban, Tahoe, Trailblazer, Silverado - up to $4000 rebate

Chevrolet Corvette – up to $4000 rebate

Chevrolet Cobalt, Traverse – up to $3500 rebate

GMC Yukon, Yukon XL, Sierra – up to $4000 rebate

Hummer H3 – $6000 rebate, H3T – $5000 rebate

Pontiac (all models) – up to $3000 rebate

Saab 9-3, 9-5, 9-7X – up to $8000 rebate

Saturn Aura, Outlook, Sky, Vue – up to $4000 rebate

Dealer Cash

Furthermore, General Motors is offering some hefty factory-to-dealer cash on some models. These direct-to-dealer rebates typically are passed along to customers in the form of additional price discounts.

2010 Cadillac CTS, DTS, STS, and Escalade – up to $2500 dealer cash

2010 Hummer H3, H3T – up to $3000 dealer cash

2009 Cadillac XLR, XLR-V, Escalade – up to $7000 dealer cash

2009 Cadillac CTS-V, DTS, STS, STS-V – up to $6000 dealer cash

2009 Cadillac CTS, SRX – up to $5000 dealer cash

2009 Hummer H2, H2 SUT – $5000 dealer cash

You can get free price quotes on any of the above vehicles from Edmunds.com.The quotes will automatically include any cash-back rebates or discounts that are currently available.

Suzuki

Some of the deals are on 2009 models, where you’ll find the best deals. But the 2010 model deals aren’t bad either.

Here are the current Suzuki deals for February (until 2/28/2010):

2009 Suzuki Equator – $2500 rebate, or 0% APR loan rate for 48/60 months

2009 Suzuki Grand Vitara – $2000 rebate plus $500 loyalty bonus rebate for Suzuki owners, or 2.9% loan for 48 months, 1.9% for 60 months

2009 Suzuki SX4 – $2500 rebate plus $500 loyalty rebate, or 0% APR loan for 48/60 months

2009 Suzuki XL7 – $4000 rebate plus $500 loyalty rebate, or 0% APR loan for 48/60 months

2010 Suzuki Grand Vitara – $1500 rebate plus $500 loyalty rebate, or 2.9% loan for 48 months, 1.9% for 60 months

2010 Suzuki Kizashi – $500 loyalty bonus, 3.9% loan for 60 months

2010 Suzuki SX4 – $1000 rebate plus $500 loyalty bonus, or 2.9% loan for 48 months, 1.9% for 60 months

You can get free price quotes on any of the above vehicles from Edmunds.com.The quotes will automatically include any cash-back rebates or discounts that are currently available.

And we tell them the same thing every month.

Car manufacturers never announce a new month’s incentives (rebates, low-interest loans, lease deals) until the old incentives expire. They don’t even tell their dealers until the day of the announcement to the public. They want to be able to analyze the success of the last incentive program so that they can fine-tune it or replace it with something that’s going to work better.

Some manufacturers announce muti-month programs. For example, BMW now has incentives that are good during January and February 2010. Infiniti’s current program goes all the way through March. See other articles here on this web site for details.

What can we expect for the coming months?

Of course, car sales are still in a slump as they have been for many, many months. Therefore, until sales are significantly better, we’ll continue to see good incentive programs from nearly all car companies. Sometimes the deals will be better than last month’s — sometimes not as good. There is no way to tell in advance what we’ll get.

It’s very unusual to see continuing month-to-month incentives as good as we’ve seen in the last year or so. In the “old days” a car manufacturer might only have incentive programs a couple or three times a year, not every month as it is now. And some companies never had incentives. Not now. Now is one of the best times ever to buy a new car. The deals have never been better.

Right now, and for the next few months, the best new car deals will be on remaining 2009 models, particularly on brands that have been discontinued or sold by their manufacturer. These include Pontiac, Hummer, Saab, and Saturn. If you like the brand and the price is right, there’s no reason not to buy. The manufacturer will still honor it’s warranties, you will still be able to get parts and service, and in a few years your car could be considered a “classic.”

As always, we will let you know when the new February car deals and incentives are announced. Check back here often because all new programs are not announced at the same time.

You can get free price quotes on any new vehicle from Edmunds.com.The quotes will automatically include any rebates or discounts that are currently available.

Since cars typically don’t change much from one model year to the next, a dealer with both 2009 models and similar 2010 models sitting on his lot has to make the 2009 models attractive to potential customers. How does he do it? He and the manufacturer offer incentives that significantly reduce the cost of the older models. The incentives can be direct customer rebates, price discounts, low-interest (or zero interest) loans, and factory-to-dealer cash.

Because of the incentives being offered on the leftover models, some great deals can be had without a lot of messy negotiating.

What’s the catch?

If there’s a catch, it is that dealers may not have exactly the model, style, and color you want in their inventory of leftover 2009 cars. You might have to be a little flexible since your choices may be limited. Since different dealers have different leftover styles and colors, you could shop around to try to find the model that best fits your needs.

 Here are examples of some of the best deals currently being offered on leftover 2009 vehicles:Nissan - Customer cash rebates of $1250-$5000 or 0% APR loans on most 2009 models

Infiniti – 0% APR loan rates on 2009 Infiniti G37

Mazda – $1000-$5000 rebates, or low-interest loans on many 2009 models

Kia – $1500-$5000 customer rebates on most 2009 models, depending on the model

Suzuki – $1000-$4000, or 0% APR loan rate on most 2009 models

Acura – Low-interest loans on 2009 Acura MDX, TL, and TSX

Honda – Low interest loans on 2009 Honda Odyssey and Pilot

Buick – $2500-$4500, or 0% APR loans on most 2009 models

Cadillac – $3000-$10,000 rebates, or 0% APR loans on most 2009 models, depending on model

Chevrolet – $1500-$4000 rebates, or 0% APR loan rates on most 2009 models, depending on model

GMC – $1500-$4000 rebates, or 0% APR loans on most 2009 models

Hummer – $6000 rebate on 2009 Hummer  H3, $3500 on H3T, or 0% APR loan rate – $5000 dealer cash on 2009 Hummer H2 and H2 SUT

Pontiac – $4000 rebate, or 0% APR loan on most 2009 models

Saab – $7500 rebate, or 0% APR loan on 2009 Saab 9-3, 9-5, and 9-7X

Saturn – $4000 rebate, or 0% APR loan on 2009 models

You can get free price quotes on any of the above vehicles from Edmunds.com.The quotes will automatically include any cash-back rebates or discounts that are currently available.

However, BMW offers “back door” price discounts by giving dealers money (“dealer cash” or “marketing support”) in the form of factory-to-dealer rebates on certain models during a promotion period. Dealers can use the money for advertising or sales events but most, if not all, of the money goes back to customers in the form of price discounts.

Currently, BMW is offering some incredibly large factory-to-dealer incentives, good during January and February 2010, ending on March 1, 2010.

Let’s look at some of the BMW dealer rebates:

2010 BMW M6 – $12,000 dealer cash

2010 BMW 6-Series – $10,000 dealer cash

2010 BMW 5-Series and M5 – $7500 dealer cash

2009 BMW 6-Series and M6 – $10,000 dealer cash

2009 BMW 7-Series – $7500 dealer cash

2009 BMW X5 and X6 – up to $5500 dealer cash

2009 BMW Z4 – $5000 dealer cash

2009 BMW 3-Series and M3 – up to $4500 dealer cash

2009 BMW X3 – $3500 dealer cash

2009 BMW 1-Series – up to $3500 dealer cash

You can get free dealer price quotes on any of the above BMW vehicles from Edmunds.com.The quotes will automatically include any cash-back rebates or discounts that are currently available.

Nissan

There are customer rebates, low-interest loans, 0% loans, and a few good lease deals. The lease deals are genuinely good deals except that only a few models and styles have the deals. So, if you like the model/stye being promoted, you can get an excellent car lease without further negotiations.

All the current Nissan deals end on 2/1/2010.

Here are some examples of the new Nissan deals:

2010 Nissan Altima – $1000 rebate, or 1.9% APR loan for 12/24/36/48/60 months — or a special lease deal on the 2.5S CVT sedan ($189 a month, 39 months, 12K miles per year, and $2889 due at signing) or a special lease deal on the 2.5S CVT coupe ($269 a month, 36 months, 12K miles per year, and $2999 due at signing).

2010 Nissan Pathfinder – $2500 rebate, or 0.9% APR loan rate for 12/24/36 months, 1.9% for 48/60 months — or a special lease deal on the Pathfinder S 4WD model ($329 a month, 39 months, 12k miles per year, $2999 due at signing)

2010 Nissan Versa – $750 rebate, or 1.9% APR loan for 12/24/36/48/60 months

2009 Nissan Versa – $1250 rebate, or 0% APR loan for 12/24/36 months, 1.9% for 48/60 months

2010 Nissan Sentra – $500 rebate, or 0.9% APR loan rate for 12/24/36/48/60 months — or a special lease deal on the Sentra 2.0 SR model ($149 a month, 39 months, 12 miles per year, $2449 due at signing)

2009 Nissan Rogue – $1250 rebate, or 1.9% for 12/24/36/48/60 months

There are similar deals on most other Nissan models. Special lease deals are available for certain models of the Nissan Rogue, Murano, Maxima, Frontier, Armada, and Cube (2009 model).

You can get free price quotes on any new Nissan vehicles from Edmunds.com.The quotes will automatically include any cash-back rebates or discounts that are currently available.

Ford’s

There are some decent customer rebates, but the best news are the zero percent loans on their new 2010 models. All the current deals expire on 2/1/2010.

As you probably know, you can’t take both a rebate and a low-interest loan. You have to choose one or the other.

Here are some of the current Ford deals. These are all on 2010 models except where noted.

Ford Edge – $2000 rebate, 0% APR loan rate for 36/48/60 months

Ford Escape – $2000 rebate, 0% APR loan rate for 36/48/60 months

Ford Expedition – $2000 rebate, 0% APR loan rate for 36months, 0.9% for 48 months, 1.9% for 60 months

Ford Explorer – $2000 rebate, 0% APR loan rate for 36months, 0.9% for 48 months, 1.9% for 60 months

Ford F150 – $2000 rebate, 0% APR loan rate for 36 months, 3.9% for 48 months, 4.9% for 60 months

2009 Ford F150 – $3000 rebate, 0% APR loan rate for 36/48/60 months

Ford Flex – $1500 rebate, 0% APR loan rate for 36 months, 0.9% for 48 months, 1.9% for 60 months

Ford Focus – $1500 rebate, 0% APR loan rate for 36 months, 4.9% for 48 months, 5.9% for 60 months

Ford Fusion – $1000 rebate, 0% APR loan rate for 36 months, 2.9% for 48 months, 3.9% for 60 months

Ford Mustang – $500 rebate, 0% APR loan rate for 36/48/60 months.

Ford Taurus – 0% APR loan rate for 36months. 2.9% for 48 months, 3.9% for 60 months

You can get free dealer price quotes on any of the above cars from Edmunds.com.The quotes will automatically include any cash-back rebates or discounts that are currently available.

General Motors

The GM deals are in the form of direct customer cash rebates and low-interest loans, with a number of 0% APR loan deals as well. All the current January incentives end on 2/1/2010.

Here are some of the best General Motors deals at this time:

2010 Buick  Lucern $2000 rebate

2010 Chevrolet Avalanche, Suburban, Tahoe, Cobalt, Impala – $2000 rebate

2010 GMC Yukon, Yukon XL, Sierra – $2000 rebate

2010 Pontiac Vibe – $4000 rebate

2009 Buick Lucerne – $4500 rebate 

2009 Buick Lacrosse – $4000 rebate

2009 Cadillac XLR, XLR-V – $10,000 rebate

2009 Cadillac Escalade – $6000 rebate

2009 Cadillac CTS-V, DTS, STS, STS-V - $5000 rebate

2009 Cadillac SRX – $4000 rebate

2009 Chevrolet Avalanche, Impala, Tahoe – $3500 rebate

2009 Chevrolet Cobalt – $3000 rebate

2009 GMC Yukon, Yukon XL – $4000 rebate

2009 GMC Envoy – $3500 rebate

2009 Hummer H3 – $6000 rebate

2009 Pontiac (most models) – $4000 rebate

2009 Saturn (most models) – $4000 rebate

Furthermore, low-interest loans are available on all the above 2010 models and 0% APR deals available on all the 2009 models above. Of course, you know that you can accept either the rebates or low interest loans, but not both. With these GM rebates being so large, it is usually better to accept the rebate instead of the loan deal, especially if you need down payment money (rebates count towards your down payment).

You can get free price quotes on any of the above GM vehicles from Edmunds.com.The quotes will automatically include any cash-back rebates or discounts that are available at this time.

Infiniti

As always, Infiniti doesn’t want to be viewed as a “discount brand” and doesn’t offer direct customer rebates. But it does offer dealer cash, which are  ”hidden” rebates from the manufacturer to the dealer. The dealer then gives most or all of the money as a price discount to customers.

Infiniti is also offering some generous 0% APR loan rates on all of it’s models for January, February, and March. 

Here are the current deals being offered by Infiniti: 

2010 Infiniti EX35 – $3000 dealer cash, or 0% APR loans for 12/24/36 months, 1.9% for 48/60 months

2010 Infiniti FX35 – $4000 dealer cash, or 0% APR loans for 12/24/36 months, 1.9% for 48/60 months

2010 Infiniti FX50 – $5000 dealer cash, or 0% APR loans for 12/24/36 months, 1.9% for 48/60 months

2010 Infiniti M35 – $5000 dealer cash, or 0% APR loans for 12/24/36 months, 0.9% for 48/60 months

2010 Infiniti M45 – $6000 dealer cash, or 0% APR loans for 12/24/36 months, 0.9% for 48/60 months

2010 Infiniti QX56 – $6000 dealer cash, or 0% APR loans for 12/24/36 months, 0.9% for 48/60 months

2009 Infiniti G37 – $3000 dealer cash, or 0% APR loans for 12/24/36 months, 1.9% for 48/60 months

You can get free price quotes on any of the above Infiniti vehicles from Edmunds.com.The quotes will automatically include any cash-back rebates or discounts that are currently available.

Some of the incentives for January 2010 are in the form of factory-to-dealer cash (marketing support) that dealers give back to buyers in the form of a big price discount. Actually, discounts are better than direct rebates because you pay sales tax on rebates, but not on discounts.

Other incentives are offered as direct customer rebates and as 0% APR loans.

Here are the current Hummer deals for January:

2009 Hummer H2 and H2 SUT – $5000 dealer cash

2009 Hummer H3 – $6000 direct customer cash rebate, or 0% APR loan rate for 36/48/60 months

2010 Hummer H3 – $3000 dealer cash

2009 Hummer H3T – $3500 direct customer rebate, or 0% APR loan rate for 36/48/60 months

2010 Hummer H3T – $1600 dealer cash

You can get free dealer price quotes on any Hummer vehicle from Edmunds.com.The quotes will automatically include any cash-back rebates or discounts that are currently available.

Chevrolet

The current Chevrolet deals are good for January 2010, and end on 2/1/2010.

Here are the current 2009 Chevrolet deals:

Chevrolet Aveo – $1500 rebate – 0% APR loan for 36/48/60/72 months

Chevrolet HHR – $2000 rebate – 0% APR loan for 36/48/60/72 months

Chevrolet Colorado, Equinox, and Malibu – $2500 rebate – 0% APR loan for 36/48/60/72 months

Chevrolet Cobalt – $3000 rebate – 0% APR loan for 36/48/60/72 months

Chevrolet Avalanche, Impala, Silverado 1500, Trailblazer, and Traverse  - $3500 rebate – 0% APR loan for 36/48/60/72 months

Chevrolet Corvette, Suburban, and Tahoe – $4000 rebate – 0% APR loan for 36/48/60/72 months

As a reminder, the above deals allow you to accept either the rebate or the 0% APR loan, but not both. Generally, it’s better to accept the rebate, especially if you need down payment money.

You can get free dealer price quotes on any of the above Chevrolet vehicles from Edmunds.com.The quotes will automatically include any cash-back rebates or discounts that are currently available.