If you’re trying to buy a car, auto price quotes will be your best friend throughout the entire negotiating process. Price quotes are the estimated price at which dealerships plan to sell a specific car. This seemingly insignificant piece of information is actually pretty powerful. By comparing different price quotes between dealerships, you can skip the sales pitch and get right into driving that price down.

One way to request a quote is to fill out a “Request a Quote” form found on the car manufacturer’s website. Your information will then be forwarded to a dealership near you and they’ll contact you with a quote.

A better method is to use Edmunds.com. Edmunds offers a free system that requests price quotes from multiple dealerships at once. Within hours, you should know the prices offered by many dealerships. Edmunds also provides a “True Market Value” which calculates the average price that others have paid for that car in your area.

Seems pretty straightforward, right? Unfortunately, the factors that contribute to how dealerships decide to respond to your request are an entirely different story. Some dealers won’t give you a price. Instead, they could send a fairly useless e-mail invitation to visit their dealership. You may be bothered by phone calls that may seem no different than speaking to a salesman at a lot. The best way to remedy such behavior is to persistently insist on hearing their estimated price and nothing else.

Despite any hitches that may arrive, price quotes save you the time and hassle of visiting several dealerships. They also give you the freedom to shop around at home and can even potentially make dealers fight for your business. So, before you ever make a purchase, make sure to know several estimates. Coming with price quotes means you will be equipped with knowledge that puts you in control of the sales floor.