MSRP accurate?

[Jayess1]

Originally Posted by cignalife

For the 2nd part of that... On the brand websites you can "build your own." If you do this, can you still get the same discounts from the dealer who you will buy this from, or is there less room for negotiation?

Depends (sorry for being so vague, but there's so much difference in how brands market/sell themselves). Most auto sites today have you plug in your zip code & will then search/list local inventory trying to match what you've selected. Note that dealer inventories usually have some sort of "package" code/deal on their inventory that won't always show up online - Ford is notorious for allowing one to select options & then pull up a vehicle w/"preferred option package X" but NOT list everything in that package.
If you're looking for a precise options list, online can sometimes be a bit frustrating, but if you're flexible then it's a good bit easier.

Generally speaking, "in stock" will net you a far better discount than a dealer trade or order.

[smokingGun]

I think Invoice price is a better guestimate of what a certain make/model is selling for rather than MSRP. MSRP should only be used in lease calculations (with residual %). If you go to Edmunds (New Cars - Edmunds.com) or TrueCar.com you can get an idea of what a certain "build" is selling for in your locale. The hard part can be locating a car with the options you want in your area, so sometimes it pays to work backwards... look at the details of an actual vehicle from a dealer's online inventory and then calculate on Edmunds or TrueCar what a fair price should be.