In the mood to drive something luxurious and European? Maybe a BMW M6 convertible or a Mercedes-Benz S-Class sedan? Good news: It won't cost you as much as you think.

"To say sticker price is misleading is a mild way to put it," says James Bell, executive market analyst for Kelley Blue Book. "The profit margin on the larger luxury vehicles will generally be much better than you'll find on a Toyota Corolla. A lot of those vehicles have that extra flexibility baked into it."

Since luxury cars tend to boast sticker prices much higher than what they actually cost the manufacturer and the dealer, there's a lot of fat consumers can trim if they're willing to haggle. That makes vehicles like the M6 and the S-Class great cars if you're hunting for a bargain.

The S-Class, for instance, lists for $US96,475. But prospective buyers this summer can expect to pay several thousand dollars less than that. In fact, 60% of new cars sold nationwide sold for below their invoice price last year, according to Truecar.com, a Santa Monica, Calif.-based automotive data aggregator.

Along with those and several additional offerings from Mercedes and BMW, the $79,275 Land Rover Range Rover and $79,225 Audi A8 made our list of the easiest cars to bargain for this summer.

Behind the Numbers

To compile the list, we used information provided by Kelley Blue Book, the Irvine, Calif.-based vehicle valuation company. Its analysts tracked new-car sales nationwide for the month of July, noting both the price for which the car actually sold (its "new car blue book" price) and the manufacturer's suggested retail price (MSRP). The new-car Blue Book value reflects a vehicle's actual selling price based on tens of thousands of recent real sales transactions from auto dealers across the U.S. It does not include manufacturer or dealer incentives.

We then determined which models sold for significantly less than MSRP. Where vehicles with different trim levels had differing MSRPs, we evaluated only the model with the biggest price cut. The vehicles with the largest difference between their selling prices and listed MSRPs made our list.

Popularity Matters

One factor that helps consumers get a deal on the car of their dreams has to do with popularity. When a particular luxury model isn't super hot on the market, dealers have much more wiggle room in order to cut a deal.

"The GL-Class Mercedes, the Range Rover, the Armada--these are very nice vehicles, but the use and role of SUVs, especially larger ones as daily family commuter vehicles, has definitely lessened its popularity," says Bell. "And of course we're going into the model-year changeover, so they struggle from a close-out situation on many of these vehicles."

It's still a bit early in the model year for full-on gangbuster sales, but there are bargains to be found: Take the BMW X5 35d, a great diesel SUV with all-wheel drive and a powerful 3.0 liter twin-turbo engine. It's listed with a MSRP of $52,175, but in July most buyers paid $3,000 less than that.

Though dominated by foreign-branded vehicles similar to the X5, several Asian-branded vehicles made the list as well. Nissan has two (the $53,440 Armada and $43,100 Pathfinder) as does Toyota (the $60,380 Sequoia and $43,130 Tundra pick-up). Honda's $41,025 Pilot and $37,985 Odyssey also made the cut. One car from Detroit, the $66,050 Cadillac Escalade ESV, showed up as well.

Do the Work to Get the Bargain

If you do plan to bargain for a new car, there are a few things to keep in mind. The most important: Don't assume that the sticker price is the set price. It's not.

"Invoice and MSRP are completely irrelevant," says Scott Painter, founder and CEO of truecar.com. "Some cars sell well above MSRP, some cars sell well below invoice. And the dirty secret in the car business, and where the frustration comes from, is we all have a sense that there are hidden layers of profit in auto retail. The reality is that there are about 13 of them."

Dealers make most of their money after the sale, through fees, maintenance, repairs, services rendered, and upgrades, so there's always room to talk them down on that first price tag.

Another trick: Don't go into a showroom and tell the salesman you can afford to pay a specific amount on car payments every month. That gives salesmen the upper hand when nailing down a final price, since they can simply stretch the payments out over multiple years. Instead, determine the actual price to pay up front, and then negotiate monthly payments.

The most important thing to do before buying is to research a vehicle before you hit the dealership. Know your transaction prices, invoice prices and potential fees, and then negotiate from that spot--not the other way around.

"If somebody comes in and starts trying to negotiate down from MSRP, well that's the dealer's dream," Bell says.