Today is the last day 789 Chrysler dealerships nationwide will be allowed to sell new cars.  The Los Angeles Times reports, "Less than a month ago, the troubled automaker sent notice to about a quarter of its dealerships that it would reject their franchise agreements in Bankruptcy Court, forcing them to close."  The move "led to a mad scramble among dealers to unload their inventory, as well as accusations of unfair or arbitrary treatment by the company." 

Iowa's Des Moines Register notes, "The deadline was believed to be unaffected by the U.S. Supreme Court's decision late Monday to delay Chrysler's planned sale to Fiat."

Some dealerships are still attempting to block their terminations.  MSNBC reports, "Chrysler dealers opposed to the automaker's plan to terminate relationships with some 789 Chrysler franchises are headed back to court Tuesday," testifying in bankruptcy court that the move would not help Chrysler survive bankruptcy but would instead hurt business by limiting the number of customers exposed to Chrysler cars.

Most of the dealers have few cars left to sell.  Autoblog notes, "Of the 42,000 cars held by the dealers whose franchises were nixed, 26,000 of them have been sold. The rest...have been assigned to be moved to dealers that are still in business," unless the dealership manages to sell them to consumers on this last day in business.

The Los Angeles Times reports, however, that about 220 Chrysler dealers still have not agreed to the company's terms for redistributing their last cars to surviving dealerships.  "Their alternative is to sell the cars on their own, without access to Chrysler's warranties or sales incentives such as cash rebates and reduced financing." It is still possible to make an offer on one of those cars today, but shoppers should be aware that buying one of those cars may be riskier than most new car transactions.

If you're in the market for a new car, check out the U.S. News rankings of this year's best cars as well as this month's best car deals.