The best time of year to buy a car is December.
To understand why December is the best time to buy a car, you must first understand the humble process and mentality of a car salesman.
Like other sellers, they have quotas. They often come in the form of monthly, quarterly, and yearly goals for the number of cars they need to achieve.
This means that your car purchase can mean the difference between their dealership achieving their sales targets and the salesperson receiving a nice annual bonus or… well, not doing any of those things.
That's why December (more precisely, the last week of the month) is the best time of year to buy a car. Based on Cars.com, the last days of December see the highest amount of incentive spending. Sometimes this even extends to the first day or two of January, depending on what day of the year the end falls on.
To get the best deals on cars, you should see if you can negotiate a car deal on December 31, New Year's Eve.
Based on QrueCar, You can save up to 8.3% on the price of a new car if you visit the dealership on New Year's Eve and no other day. This is because it is the last day a dealer has to achieve their quarterly AND annual targets. Because of that, they have such a big bonus that they want to get the car out as fast as possible.
Let's say you're looking at a nice used car that costs around $20,000. If you log in on New Year's Eve, you're entitled to $1,660 off just because you logged in that day alone. Imagine what you could get if you put them together good negotiating tactic.
What if I can't wait for December to buy a car?
Sometimes, you can't wait for the end of the year to buy a car. If so, you can still get a lot by buying on the last day of the other quota.
The next best thing to the end of the year is the end of the quarter. For those of you who are not thinking financially, this basically means:
- March 31 (last day of Q1)
- June 30 (last day of Q2)
- September 30 (last day of Q3)
- And of course, December 31st (last day of the year, and Q4)
You'll get great deals on cars any time during the last week of the quarter, but it's best to be able to go right on the last day.
If the wait is still too long, then the next best thing is to go on the last day of the month.
According to Mike Rabkinowner and founder From Car to Finishthe end of the month is good because of the quota that must be met by car sellers.
“When a vehicle needs sales assistance, the end of the month is the right time to buy if negotiating the vehicle yourself,” he said. “Because the sales managers at the dealership have a monthly quota to reach and get compensated whether they reach it or not.”
If you can't wait until the end of the month… then you need to take a hard look at your life! Going on the last day of any given week won't be much more useful than it used to be, if at all. In fact, Sunday is one of them worst day for savings.
My local dealer is having a Labor Day/Anniversary Day/4th of July/Hanukkah sale. Is it a scam?
While those big sale days may seem more like a slick ad than anything else, they actually offer solid savings if you choose to buy one.
Based on Autotrader.commany auto companies offer great cash-back and financing deals for weekend getaways — which allows dealers to take advantage and try to lure you into buying the car on sale.
So instead of going to your friend's BBQ for Labor Day weekend, you might want to take a trip to the car dealership to see what sweet deals you can snag. Then, of course, go to the BBQ after your new trip.