(MONEY Magazine) – What the new century will bring drivers--computer guidance systems, crash avoidance technology, electric power--is little more than conjecture. Yet one thing is certain: This century is starting off as a golden era for car buyers. You have abundant choice, as automakers blend cars with trucks and come up with other novel designs (see the box on page 139). You can enjoy ample peace of mind, thanks to improved vehicle safety and reliability. And, most important, you have tremendous leverage when it comes to negotiating the best price. From our list of 398 new models to our eight best buys, here's everything you need to know about this year's market, starting with why it's so consumer-friendly.

Car makers are especially hungry for your business. A snapshot of this year's car market may look familiar: Sticker prices are flat and automakers are continuing to dangle generous incentives, including $1,500 rebates and sub-1% financing deals. What's different is the intensity. Detroit's Big Three--Ford, General Motors and the Chrysler portion of DaimlerChrysler--lost market share last year to overseas competitors, and their all-out drive to regain it is producing incentives worth 35% more on average than what was available at this time last year, according to CNW Marketing/Research.

The market dynamics could tilt even further in your favor as the year goes on. Economists at J.D. Power & Associates are predicting that Americans will buy 1 million fewer cars this year; the '99 incentives that helped sell a record 16.9 million cars and trucks may have attracted buyers who would otherwise have shopped this year.

Dealer competition is alive and well. Your ability to play one dealer against another has helped keep the average annual car-price increase to less than 1% for three years. Even though a few foreign car makers--notably Mercedes and Lexus--started pressuring dealers not to discount last year, both Ford and GM abandoned plans to consolidate or take over dealerships, leaving you with ample local choice.

The Internet is empowering consumers more than ever. You can save money on a new car by going online but perhaps not in the way you'd expect. Even though complete online car buying has arrived and more sites will give you a dealer quote, the Web doesn't necessarily offer the lowest prices. (Note, too, that direct buying is not yet available in all 50 states, due in part to dealer opposition and state franchise laws.) A recent CNW study, for instance, found that buyers who bought online paid 6.5% more than average, perhaps because most car selling sites give you a single no-haggle price rather than competing bids.

But the wealth of resources available online--such as up-to-date news on manufacturer incentives, including unadvertised ones, and the dealer's cost for the model and options you want--can help you get the lowest price when you walk into the showroom. That same CNW study found that buyers who researched prices online and then negotiated in person paid 3.5% less than average. (For our favorite sites, see "The Best Online Resources" on the opposite page.)

As this Web research confirms, like it or not, haggling is still the way to get the best deal. To that end, the tables that begin on page 141 can help. Our list of 398 of the most popular cars, minivans, SUVs and pickups provides the dealer's cost on a base model and a typically equipped model, plus your target price. Your best strategy is to bargain up from the dealer's cost for the model and options you want, aiming to pay no more than 2% to 3% more for a sub-$20,000 car or 4% to 5% more for a pricier model. Or go online for a no-haggle benchmark price and ask the dealer to beat it.

If, like many buyers, you're uncomfortable with hard bargaining, you can hire a shopper to do it on your behalf. (Our recommendations are included in "The Best Online Resources.") In general, the low price these services get for you more than make up for the $155 to $395 they charge.

In addition to giving you the tools to shop, we've picked our Best Buys among small and mid-size sedans, luxury and sports cars, minivans, sport utilities and pickup trucks. To do so, we asked three shopping services--AutoAdvisor, CarBargains and CarSource--to identify today's best values. In addition, we looked for high resale values and good safety records. Our picks are not only good deals; they have also garnered praise from professional reviewers for performance and looks. Now on to our Best Buys.

SMALL CAR: FORD FOCUS SE TARGET PRICE: $14,314

Sick of boxy, utilitarian compacts? If so, you'll be happy to hear that "the days of small cars as appliances like toasters are over," says George Peterson, president of the automotive research firm AutoPacific. "Now they've got to have personality." Last year, Volkswagen infused this category with some pizazz by introducing the New Beetle. Now Ford has answered with the eye-catching Focus. Designed in Europe and already a hit there, the Focus, with its high roofline and sloping hood, has a look that stands out. But it was the car's practical aspects that won our vote. That high roofline means more headroom, and a sit-tall driver's seat makes you feel you're behind the wheel of a small minivan rather than an economy car. Also, the Focus delivers more power than small-car buyers have come to expect.

Government safety tests have not been completed yet, but Ford engineers have a good track record of designing cars that do well in crash tests, and the Focus has an especially rigid body. Plus, side air bags and anti-lock brakes, two important safety options, are available on this model.

The Focus has been selling well, but a good negotiator should be able to get a four-door sedan with anti-lock brakes, side air bags and automatic transmission for $14,314, just $300 over the dealer's invoice price of $14,014.

MID-SIZE CAR UNDER $25,000: HONDA ACCORD LX TARGET PRICE: $17,939

Repeat buyers helped the Accord hold on to its slot as the second best-selling sedan in the U.S. last year, behind the Toyota Camry, and we understand their loyalty. The same virtues that make Accord drivers so happy have led us to name the sedan a Best Buy for the third year in a row.

Behind the wheel, you'll find smooth acceleration and good handling through corners and curves. As for safety, we give the Accord four stars out of a possible five. At the dealership, Honda owners are more satisfied with the maintenance and repair experiences than most other drivers are. And when you're ready to move on, the Accord should sell for 42% of its 2000 price, according to online car buying service CarSmart.com, vs. 38% for the Camry and 30% for the Ford Taurus. That high resale value makes the Accord an ideal lease candidate by lowering payments.

Honda avoids rebates but leaves dealers plenty of latitude to bargain. Our $17,939 target price is $200 over the dealer's cost for an LX with automatic transmission and anti-lock brakes, the only options available on this model.

MID-SIZE CAR OVER $25,000: VOLVO S70 GLT SE TARGET PRICE: $30,425

Volvos have long been a fixture in the suburbs, thanks to their unparalleled reputation for comfort and safety. And, indeed, the Volvo S70 lives up to this image. The four-door sedan topped our safety ratings for mid-size cars with its strong crash-test results, below-average injury statistics and plentiful safety features--the S70 comes with standard side air bags and seat-belt tensioners, which retract slightly in a crash to keep you in your seat.

As for aesthetics, the S70 design softens the hard-edge corners of traditional Volvos. And thanks to some of the most comfortable seats on the road, the S70's ride is luxurious. Volvo has put sizable dealer incentives on the S70; they vary by region, but a good negotiator should be able to get the S70 for about $100 over the $30,325 invoice price in most locations. This GLT SE version comes with a discounted option package that includes leather seats, a premium stereo with a CD player and multiple driver-seat memory settings. If you need to haul more, the V70 version is one of the best station wagons available.

LUXURY CAR: BMW 528I TARGET PRICE: $39,615

The BMW 528i delivers the smooth ride with a minimum of noise that luxury-car buyers prize--as well as the amenities like leather seats and automatic climate control that buyers in this price range have come to expect. But this BMW is the luxury car to consider if you really love to drive; its quick, responsive steering and suspension make it more fun to drive than most cars this large and roomy.

Despite the near $40,000 price tag, this Beemer is a great value. At this price level, you expect plenty of standard safety equipment and get it--including an innovative side air bag that helps protect the head. Such equipment--along with top scores in insurance industry crash tests--helped this car earn five stars in our safety ratings.

This $39,615 target price for the 528i, including automatic transmission and leather upholstery, is $2,000 above the dealer's cost but at least $5,000 less than what you'd pay for the competing Mercedes E320, especially since Mercedes is pressuring its dealers not to budge from the list price.

SPORTS CAR: CHEVROLET CORVETTE TARGET PRICE: $44,555

The public's appetite for two-seat roadsters has waxed and waned over the decades. No matter. Since 1953, Chevrolet has kept manufacturing Corvettes, and sports-car enthusiasts have kept buying them. Today, with roadsters back in favor, this classic American convertible stands out from the newer generation of pretenders. "The Corvette combines breathtaking performance with enough room to feel comfortable inside--something you don't get with all roadsters," says Linda Lee Goldberg, president of the buying service CarSource and one of our Best Buys panelists.

Enough trunk space for two sets of golf clubs is nice, but that's not why you buy a roadster. You do it because the Corvette's 345-horsepower V-8 engine will take you from zero to 60 mph in just over five seconds, and its road-gripping handling, traction control and anti-lock brakes will help you harness that power. While no low-to-the-ground roadster will top the safety charts on roads filled with SUVs and pickups, the Corvette has an accident-injury rate 15% below the average for its category, according to the Highway Loss Data Institute.

With Corvette loyalists vying for a limited supply of a new cars, $1,000 below the list price, or $44,555, is probably the best price you can negotiate on a 2000 convertible. But that's still $21,645 less than the $66,200 you'd likely pay for roadster competitor Jaguar XK8.

SPORT UTILITY: JEEP GRAND CHEROKEE LAREDO TARGET PRICE: $26,227

Increasingly, SUV buyers want a car-like ride, even at the expense of off-road capability. With the four-wheel-drive Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo, you don't have to make that compromise. Its 1999 redesign added some previously lacking comfort and interior hauling space and solidified its place as the best off-road performer among the top-selling SUVs. Refined front suspension has improved the highway ride. The new Quadra-Drive four-wheel-drive system keeps the truck moving in rough country even if only one wheel has traction, and the placement of the spare tire beneath the cargo floor has boosted storage space.

As sales of both the bigger and smaller utilities grow more swiftly than sales of mid-size SUVs, dealers are discounting this Jeep to $200 over invoice price, or $26,227. "At this price, the Grand Cherokee is a great value," says Ashly Knapp, president of the car buying service AutoAdvisor, especially since this base model includes options such as anti-lock brakes and an engine-disabling antitheft system. For another $1,794, you can add a "quick order package" of options, which includes remote keyless entry, power front seats and an upgraded sound system with a CD player.

MINIVAN: TOYOTA SIENNA LE TARGET PRICE: $22,648

The families who buy minivans care a lot about safety, and by that measure the Sienna is a standout--even in a class of vehicles that are already among the safest on the road. Thanks to top crash-test scores from both the federal government and the insurance industry, this minivan gets our highest five-star safety rating. Plus, the Sienna comes with anti-lock brakes, seat-belt tensioners to hold you more firmly in your seat during a crash and daytime running lights to help other cars see you.

Built with many of the same steering and drive-train components as the popular Toyota Camry sedan, the Sienna shares Camry's comfortable, quiet ride and sure steering. The van's V-6 engine provides good acceleration. Although shorter and more maneuverable than the competing Honda Odyssey and Ford Windstar, the Sienna still seats seven, and its third-row seats fold down or come out relatively easily if you need to haul big, bulky items.

This Sienna LE sells for $22,648, or $500 over the dealer's cost, making it a top value in its class. We also like the popular and innovative Odyssey minivan, but the LX model is selling at the full list price of $23,400, about $750 more than you would pay for this Sienna.

PICKUP TRUCK: FORD F150 XL STYLESIDE 4WD TARGET PRICE: $21,954

For drivers who like the roominess and hauling capacity of sport utilities but find them too expensive, pickups are a great alternative. In fact, in an attempt to capture the driver torn between an suv and a pickup, Ford and others are bringing out pickups with sport utility cabs and suvs with short pickup beds (see below). But those come at much higher prices. So for a true truck value, consider the real thing: the Ford F150. This Super Cab model has four doors (two narrow back ones), a powerful V-8 engine and four-wheel drive--all for just $21,954 after a $500 rebate. The XL rides almost like a car, with steering and braking that won't remind you that you're driving a truck. It also includes such car-like amenities as power seats and reading lights. Yet if hauling a trailer is what you have in mind, the 1,700-pound towing capacity will remind you that it's a truck.

REPORTER ASSOCIATES: Art Janik and Bronwen Pardes