Buying a new car can feel like walking through a field of land mines. With three major pits of profits for the dealership -- the new car price, the trade-in and the financing -- it's easy to walk right into a money trap.

Not all salesmen, finance and insurance managers, and dealerships are financial vampires -- or doing anything illegal. "For the most part, 95 percent of time, they're not unscrupulous," says David Thomas, editor at Cars.com. The salesmen, he contends, are just trying to earn their commissions.

Still, a new car represents a big chunk of your money -- possibly the largest purchase next to your house. There's no reason to waste any of it on inflated prices.

Tricks of the trade Learn to spot these common sales and finance tricks and you can call the dealer's bluff.

Land mines 1. The lot 2. The trade-in 3. The finance and insurance office

Land mine No.1: The lot
Before you set foot on the car lot, you should know whether the car you want is in stock, how much it's selling for, if the dealer receives incentives for selling it and what the demand for it is.

The 'hot' car
Popular vehicles can sell above sticker price. But cars that have been sitting on the lot shouldn't command the asking price. If the salesman refuses your lowball offer, saying that the car sells above MSRP, or manufacturer's suggested retail price, tell him you know better. "If there's a car on the lot, it's not in demand," says Jeff Ostroff, president and founder of carbuyingtips.com. If it was, there would be a waiting list for it, he says.

That said, your offer should fall in the ballpark of other offers. Find out how much your dream wheels actually sell for on sites such as KelleyBlueBook.com and Edmunds.com.

Generally, you want to start negotiating from the invoice price up, not down from the MSRP. You can research invoice amounts online at Kelley Blue Book, Cars.com and Edmunds.com, too. This figure shows what the dealer paid the manufacturer for the car, minus any factory-to-dealer incentives and holdbacks for selling it.

"Invoice prices vary by region," says Thomas. But generally, the invoice price you found online should hit pretty close to what the dealer paid for the car. He suggests asking the salesman, "If that's not what you paid, how close can you come to that?"

Research can be your best negotiating chip. If you know, for instance, that the dealer will make $600 from a factory-to-dealer incentive, you can say, "I saw on the (insert name of source) Web site that you're getting a dealer incentive. Can you cut me a break?"

This is also a good time to present quotes from other dealers. Quotes are easy numbers to come by, as you can check inventories online, e-mail fleet managers or get them from sites such as Carsdirect.com, AutoUSA.com or Car.com. If the salesman can't make you a better offer, then you know a better deal awaits you elsewhere.