When Is the Best Time to Buy a Car?

A new vehicle is one of the most essential purchases you can make in any given year, whether it's to help a new driver get on the road or to treat yourself. With the average cost of a new vehicle approaching $40,000, a car purchase should involve extensive research and thought. While make, model, price, and paint color are all significant considerations for any motorist, you should keep one more element in mind before visiting a dealership: when you plan to buy a new automobile.

Best Times to Buy a Car

So you've done your research, obtained a down payment or a car loan, and are counting down the days until you can breathe in that fresh car fragrance. It may appear to be the ideal time to make a purchase, but your calendar may indicate otherwise. Though automobile manufacturers regularly advertise their current models throughout the year, it is crucial to know that the best prices are only available on or around specified dates.

There are better days to buy consumer electronics and fitness equipment, just as there are best periods to buy a car. What it comes down to is how strongly dealerships want to move their existing inventory. Cars that sit on a lot represent a significant income loss for a dealership and can pose problems whenever new models arrive. Combine it with quarterly sales objectives, and you may begin to plan out the best times to buy a new vehicle.

• End of the month/quarter. One of the most important things to remember while shopping for a new automobile is that almost every salesman on the showroom floor is working toward monthly or quarterly sales targets. If those goals are met, the sales team may receive further incentives, but they may also be more likely to haggle the price of a vehicle in order to secure a sale.
• End of the year. Holidays such as Christmas and New Year's Eve provide the ideal occasion for special year-end sales events, making it an excellent time to look for a bargain. Buyers gain an advantage since December has the trifecta of year-end, quarterly, and monthly sales targets. Waiting until right before the ball drops has before resulted in sweetheart financing alternatives, cash-back incentives, or price reductions.
• Beginning of the year for used cars. While dealerships attempt to end the year with a surge in new car sales, they also try to do it at the start of the year with used automobiles. That's partly because January and February see a high volume of used cars as owners swap in their old vehicles for new ones. According to data from iSeeCars.com, the top three months for 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 holidays that help dealerships sell vehicles. Car dealers use Labor Day, Memorial Day, and Black Friday, as well as other days when many people are off work, to attract clients to their showrooms. The same applies to three-day weekends when a holiday falls on a Friday or Monday.
• Early in the week. If you want to negotiate, you must have the salesperson's full attention. This may not occur on weekends, when dealerships are typically busier. Shopping on a Monday or Tuesday provides you the opportunity to be the only one asking inquiries, doing test drives, and negotiating a final price. It's also worth noting that since financial institutions are open during work hours, applying for a loan may be easier.
• End of a model’s life cycle or design cycle. Vehicles, like other consumer commodities, have a predictable life cycle. Manufacturers eventually discontinue or redesign a specific model. Once that happens, dealers will want to clear out their inventory of older models to make room for new ones. Sure, you won't be driving the most recent vehicle on the road, but you could get a decent deal.
• During a model changeover. New models often arrive in showrooms in early September. At that point, dealers seek to clear out as much of their previous year's inventory as possible to make place for the new model. If you're okay with sticking with the prior model, you could save money on a purchase. Depending on how well the automobile has sold, you may try to negotiate a significant price reduction.
• When the dealership is offering additional perks. Sometimes the greatest time to buy a car is when a dealer is running a special promotion. Manufacturers typically provide deals such as cash back, low-monthly rentals, and low or no-cost deposits.

Worst Times to Buy a Car

Just as there are good days to negotiate a deal, there are also days when you should avoid automobile buying. If you can wait a while before making your purchase, you may want to avoid the following times:

• Early in a model year. If you have your eye on a brand new car before it even arrives on a dealership lot, you may consider lowering your expectations for a price. In comparison to their older inventory, dealers have less motivation to try to sell newly manufactured vehicles. Conversely, early in a new model's year is the perfect time to haggle for a leftover model, as dealers want to make room for the new vehicles that are arriving.
• Immediately following a new model’s launch. Manufacturers spend a lot of money marketing their new models in order to generate demand. Deal making is improbable, so wait or look into a previous model.
• At the beginning of a new month. If the end of the month is one of the finest times to buy a car, the converse is true at the beginning of the month. A salesperson's monthly sales objectives are reset at the start of each month, so they are less tempted to urge their management for a deal extension. You may still be able to negotiate a better deal, but you must be prepared to put in the effort ahead of time to demonstrate your commitment to making the purchase.

How the Global Microchip Shortage Affects Car Sales

As the globe faces a prolonged semiconductor scarcity that may endure until 2022, many businesses are curtailing production. Because modern vehicles rely on semiconductor chips, automotive inventories have decreased.

If you're looking for a good price on a new car, the terrible reality is that you're entering a market where basic supply and demand economics are working against you. Lower stock levels combined with increased demand have resulted in a 50% rise in purchasers paying more than the sticker price. The average new vehicle price in June 2021 increased by 8.6% over the previous year to $42,331.

Used car costs are rising even faster, and dealerships are less likely to lower prices. The average used vehicle price in June 2021 increased 27% to $26,457 over the previous year.

If you absolutely have to shop for a new or used vehicle during this shortage, recognize that you are in a seller's market. Dealers aren't in the mood to bargain. You should also be wary of any dealer markups that push a vehicle's price above the manufacturer's suggested retail price (MSRP).

If you can't locate a fair bargain on the car you want, you might have to settle for a different manufacturer, color, or type of vehicle altogether. You might also try to mitigate the impact of a higher price by trading in an older vehicle. Leasing is also an excellent option to get behind the wheel of a new car without committing to the purchase. Leases often last two or three years, so by the time that agreement expires, the shortage may be over, and you can return to looking for the best offer.

Can you negotiate better prices during favorable buying periods?

As a customer, it is your responsibility to seek out the best available offer. When you walk into a vehicle dealership during one of their busiest sales times, you have greater bargaining power than any other time of year. If you're willing to haggle a little and negotiate the finer points of a bargain, you can probably receive a better price than you thought.

Is there a specific time of day when you should head to the dealership?

When looking for a new vehicle, it's usually preferable to visit the dealership as early as possible—preferably on a weekday. The reasons for this are twofold:

• Salespeople are often better rested and less anxious in the morning since they have not yet dealt with the pressures of face-to-face sales.
• Most purchasers will be at work, thus the dealership is likely to be vacant. This can lead to a faster purchasing process and more direct engagement with sales.

Can your lease ever be used in a deal?

If you have a leased vehicle and have received calls from the dealership, it's likely that they want to reintroduce your vehicle to their inventory as a used option for other purchasers rather than waiting for your lease to end. This is known as a "pull-ahead" program, which terminates a lease early, adds the vehicle to the dealership's pre-owned inventory, and returns the consumer to the leasing cycle.

The Bottom Line

When it comes to purchasing a new automobile, make every effort to stay in control. By educating yourself on the automobile you desire and determining the optimal time to look for a deal, you put yourself in the greatest position to get a fantastic deal.