The best time to buy a new car depends on several factors. Generally, the fall is a good time to buy a new car when 💟dealers are moving inventory off their lot. The holidays may offer good deals on new ca🐷rs as well.

Whether it’s to help get a new driver on the road or a fun gift to yourself, a new vehicle is an important purchase. With the average price tag of a new vehicle was $47,401 in early 2024, a car purchase should come with significant research and consideration attached.

And while things like make, model, cost, and paint color are important criteria for any motorist to consider, you’ll also want to plan for the best time of year to buy a new car.

Best Times to Buy a Car

So you’ve done your research, secured a down payment or a car loan, and are counting down the days until you buy a ne🦩w car. Though motor vehicle manufacturers constantly advert🌃ise their latest models all year long, it’s important to note that the best deals only happen on or around specific dates.

Just as there are better days to 澳洲幸运5官方开🐼奖结果体彩网:buy consumer electronics and fitness produꦿcts, there are optimal times to buy a 🐼vehicle. What it really boils down to🎀 is how badly dealerships want to move their existing stock.

Cars that sit on a lot represent a considerable amount of revenue loss for a dealership and can cause problems once the new models start coming in. Couple that with quarterly sales quotas and you can start mapping out the prime times to 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:buy a new vehicle.

• End of the month/quarter: One of the most important things to keep in mind when shopping for a new vehicle is the fact that nearly every salesperson on the show floor is operating under monthly or 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:quarterly sales goals. Those goals may come with added incentives for the sales team if met, but this also means that they may be more willing to 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:negotiate on a vehicle’s price to secure a sale.
• End of the year: Holidays like Christmas and New Year’s Eve provide the perfect excuse to hold special year-end sales events, making it a good time to hunt for a deal. Buyers get an added leg up since December culminates with the trifecta of year-end, quarterly, and monthly sales goals. Consumers in the past have been known to land sweetheart 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:financing options, cash-back deals, or price reductions by waiting until just before the ball drops.
• Beginning of the year for used cars: While dealerships try to end their year with a boom in new car sales, they try to do the same at the start the year with used cars. That’s largely because January and February tend to see a huge intake of used cars as buyers trade in their old rides for a new one. According to data from iSeeCars.com, the top three months with the highest percentage of used car deals are January (28.7%), February (22.1%), and December (13%).
• Major holidays and long weekends: Christmas and New Year’s aren’t the only two holidays that help dealerships move cars. Labor Day, Memorial Day, and 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:Black Friday, other days when lots of people are off work, are used by car dealers to draw customers into showrooms. The same goes for three-day weekends when a holiday falls on a Friday or Monday.
• Early in the week: It’s important to have a salesperson’s undivided attention if you intend on negotiating. During the weekend, when dealerships tend to be busy, that may not happen. Shopping on a Monday or Tuesday gives you a good opportunity to be the only person asking questions, going on test drives, and negotiating a final price. It’s also an added bonus that since financial institutions are open during business hours, applying for a loan may be easier.
• End of a model’s life cycle or design cycle: Like most consumer goods, vehicles have an expected life cycle. Over time, manufacturers stop producing a certain model or redesign it. Once that happens, dealers are going to want to clear their inventory of the older models to make room for new ones. Sure, you won’t be getting behind the newest vehicle on the road, but you may get a good deal.
• During a model changeover: New models typically reach showrooms in early fall. At that point, dealers want to clear out as much of their inventory of the previous year’s model to make room for the new model. If you’re OK with going with the previous model, you may save money on a purchase. Depending on how well the car has sold, you might try negotiating a steep price cut.
• When the dealership is offering additional perks: Sometimes, the best time to get a car is when a dealer is offering a great promotion. Deals like cash back, leases with low monthly payments, and low or zero-cost deposits are usually offered by the manufacturers themselves.

Worst Times to Buy a Car

Just as there are great days to negotiate a deal, there are other days when you should avoid car shopping. If you can wait a while before making your purchase, the following times may be bes𓆉t to avoid:

• Early in a model year: If you have your eye on a brand new car before it’s even on a dealership lot, consider tempering your expectation for a deal. Dealers have less incentive to try to get freshly minted cars off the lot compared with their older inventory. Conversely, early in a new model’s year is the best time to negotiate for a leftover model, since dealers want to make room for the new vehicles arriving.
• Immediately following a new model’s launch: Manufacturers spend fortunes marketing their newest models, and that’s intended to spark demand. Deal making is unlikely, so wait or check out a prior model.
• At the start of a new month: If the end of a month is one of the best times to shop for a car, then the opposite is true about the start of the month. The beginning of the month resets a salesperson’s monthly sales goals, and they’re less likely to push their managers for leeway on a deal. You might still negotiate a better deal, but be prepared to put in work ahead of time to prove how serious you are about making a purchase.
  

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

The Bottom Line

When it comes to buying a new vehicle, do everything you can to remain in the driver’s seat. By educating yourself about the car you want and picking the best time to hunt down a deal, you put yourself in the best position to secure a great deal.