When is the Best Time to Buy a New Car?

Are you planning to buy a new car? If so, you might be wondering about timing. Of course, you may be in a situation where you must buy immediately. Circumstances might force you to act quickly. But, if it’s just time for an upgrade, you should consider the best time to buy a new car before you start shopping.

At Addition Financial, we do our best to inform our members about the car-buying process. What’s the best time to buy a new car? There’s more than one answer to that question – and here’s what you need to know.

Year-End Sales Events

If you have some time to plan and you don’t mind waiting, one of the best times to buy a new car is at the end of the calendar year. Dealers have an incentive to sell off their inventory to make way for new stock coming in. They may also need to meet annual sales goals.

A salesperson who’s under pressure to meet an annual goal may be willing to sell you a vehicle for a reduced price. That means you can go into the negotiation with a strong upper hand – and you might be able to get a better price than you could if you’d gone at a different time.

Holiday Sales

Many car dealerships have big sales on certain holidays. If you need a new car and it’s close to Memorial Day, Labor Day, President’s Day or any other holiday when cars go on sale, you may find you can get a better bargain than would otherwise be possible. Some statistics indicate Black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving) is the best day of the year to car shop.

Of course, the downside of going to a holiday sale is dealerships will be crowded and hectic. You’ll need to weigh that against your desire to get a good price. If you decide to shop the holiday sales, it’s a good idea to do some research ahead of time and know what dealerships are offering so you can expedite the process.

End of the Month

What if you can’t wait for a holiday or the end of the year? Another possibility is to go toward the end of the month – any month – in the hopes that you can get a better price than you would early in the month.

The end-of-the-month strategy is similar to the strategy of going at the end of the year, albeit on a smaller scale. Most dealerships and salespeople have monthly sales quotas to meet. If you go in on the last day of the month (or even the second-to-last day) you might be able to take advantage of their need to make a few sales before closing their books for the month.

End of the Model Year

The next time of year we want to let you know about is the end of the model year. All car manufacturers introduce new models. It used to be that all of the new model releases happened in September. Now, there’s more variation – but the end of the summer is still a great time to buy a car.

When new models are being released, car dealerships are under a lot of pressure to clear out their existing inventory to make room for new cars. They’ll be incentivized to move cars off the lot. If you’re not intent on having the very latest model, you might be able to get a terrific deal on a model that’s about to be replaced.

End of Design Cycle or End of Life Cycle

There are two additional times you may want to consider buying a car. The first is when a car manufacturer announces that they intend to redesign one of their existing models. The cars that are on dealership lots are about to be outstripped by the redesigned models.

The end of the design cycle is a great shopping time if you’re more concerned about finding a bargain than you are about having the latest and greatest design elements. You’ll still be getting a new car and you may be able to save a significant amount off the sticker price.

A related time is when a manufacturer announces they’re ending production of a model. You’ll need to do some research to make sure you know why they’re stopping. If it’s because of a design flaw, it doesn’t make sense to buy that model. But, if they’re ending production because the model hasn’t been popular, there’s the potential you could get a great deal.

The Worst Time to Buy a Car

If possible, try to avoid buying a car in the month of April. Research shows many people shop at that time of year because of tax refunds. It's also a popular time to buy a car as a graduation gift, or to prepare for a family vacation. All of those factors create a lot of demand, so dealerships have less reason to negotiate with buyers.

If you need a car right away, then you won’t want to waste time worrying about the best time to buy one. However, if you can plan a bit and don’t mind waiting, buying a new car at one of the times we’ve mentioned here can help you get a good deal.

To learn more about Addition Financial’s auto loans or to start your application, please click here.