Getting a great deal on a new car often involves strategies like visiting dealerships during sales events or honing your negotiation skills. While these methods can certainly help, understanding the optimal timing for your car purchase can significantly increase your savings. The day of the week, the time of the month, and especially the time of year all play crucial roles in determining the deals available to car buyers. Knowing when dealerships are most motivated to offer discounts can put you in the driver’s seat for securing the best possible price. Here’s what you need to consider when figuring out the best time to buy your next vehicle.
What Are the Best Days of the Week to Buy a Car?
Opt for Weekdays Over Weekends. For a smoother buying experience, better deals, and more attentive service, weekdays are definitively superior to weekends for car shopping. Ideally, aim for the middle of the week.
While weekends might seem like the most convenient time for many to browse car dealerships, their popularity is precisely their downfall. Saturdays and Sundays are typically the busiest days at car dealerships.
The high volume of potential buyers flooding dealerships on weekends reduces the salesperson’s incentive to offer significant discounts. When dealerships are packed, salespeople are less likely to feel pressured to cut prices to close a deal.
Furthermore, the dealership’s finance department often becomes overwhelmed during weekend rushes. This can lead to longer wait times for loan approvals and potentially less favorable interest rates or financing options due to the sheer volume of applications being processed.
However, not all weekdays are created equal for deal-seeking car shoppers. Fridays tend to be busier as some weekend shoppers start their car hunting early. Similarly, Mondays can also see higher traffic, catching the overflow from weekend shoppers who didn’t finalize their purchases.
If your local car dealerships are closed on Sundays, then Mondays are particularly likely to be busy. In such cases, waiting until at least Tuesday to begin your search for a new or used car is advisable to avoid the crowds and increase your chances of negotiating a better deal.
What Are the Best Times of the Day to Buy a Car?
Aim for Later in the Day. While the saying “the early bird gets the worm” is common, it doesn’t necessarily apply to car buying. In fact, waiting until later in the day to visit a car dealership might actually work to your advantage when seeking a better price. As the day winds down, salespeople may be more inclined to expedite the negotiation process and finalize a sale quickly, potentially offering a more attractive deal to wrap up their day.
This strategy is particularly effective during slower periods of the month or year. When sales are generally less brisk, salespeople feel greater pressure to meet their monthly and yearly sales targets. Knowing that it’s their last opportunity to make a sale before closing, they are less likely to let a potential buyer walk away without a deal. This end-of-day urgency can be leveraged to negotiate more aggressively and potentially secure a lower price.
What Are the Best Times of the Year to Buy a Car?
Seasonality significantly impacts car buying, with certain times of the year traditionally offering more discounts, incentives, rebates, and attractive cash-back offers. Understanding these seasonal trends is key to maximizing your savings.
Here’s a breakdown of the best holidays, months, and seasons to purchase a vehicle, helping you pinpoint the prime times for car deals.
Best Holidays to Buy a Car
Holidays are synonymous with retail deals, and the automotive industry is no exception. Car dealerships frequently capitalize on the celebratory atmosphere of holidays to attract customers, leading to various incentives. These can range from direct price reductions and cash-back offers to enhanced trade-in values for your current vehicle.
Keep an eye out for special deals and discounts during major holidays, three-day weekends, and significant seasonal events. Key holidays known for car sales include:
- Presidents’ Day (mid-February): Often the first major sales event of the year.
- Memorial Day (late May): Kick-starts the summer sales season.
- Independence Day (early July): Deals continue into the mid-summer months.
- Labor Day (early September): Marks the beginning of end-of-year clearance events.
- Black Friday (late November): Part of the broader retail holiday shopping season.
- Christmas through New Year’s Day (late December and early January): Year-end clearance sales reach their peak.
Beyond national holidays, many dealerships also participate in local festivals, community events, and days of recognition to draw in local buyers. Regularly check dealerships’ social media feeds and websites for announcements of seasonal sales events. If there’s a holiday or special occasion, there’s a good chance a car deal is waiting to be discovered.
Best Months to Buy a Car
The ideal month to buy a car can depend on whether you’re interested in the newest models or seeking a bargain on a current model as it approaches the end of its production cycle.
September and October: Car prices typically see a drop when dealerships begin receiving the new model year vehicles, usually in September and October. As the shiny new models arrive, the current year’s vehicles become less desirable, creating a prime opportunity for bargain hunters. Dealerships become eager to clear out the older models to make space for the latest inventory.
This makes September, particularly around Labor Day, an excellent time to snag a deal on a car that’s essentially brand new but from the outgoing model year. While these models might lack some of the very latest features, this works in your favor if your priority is a significant price reduction. Discounts can be even more substantial if the model you’re interested in has undergone a major redesign for the new model year, as dealerships are even more motivated to sell the previous design.
Conduct some research to determine when new models are expected to arrive at dealerships, so you can be ready to act. Armed with this information, you’ll be well-positioned to make a competitive offer on an older model at precisely the right time of month and year.
October, November, and December: The late fall months are also highly advantageous for finding deep discounts on cars. This period marks the crucial end-of-year sales push for both dealerships and automakers.
As the calendar year concludes, dealerships are focused on maximizing sales of the current model year vehicles. They aim to finish the year strongly and boost their overall profitability. While discounts are offered throughout the year, December often brings the most compelling prices and incentives.
Salespeople, too, are highly motivated during this period, striving to meet both their annual and December monthly sales quotas. This heightened pressure can make them more willing to offer you the best possible deal to secure a sale, as it directly contributes to their commission and potential year-end bonuses.
The main potential drawback of December car shopping is that many other buyers are also aware of these year-end deals. This increased demand might mean that dealership inventory of your preferred make and model could be limited. However, if you’re flexible and open to considering different vehicles, December can be the perfect time to drive away with an unbeatable deal.
Best Time of Month to Buy a Car
The End of the Month: Car dealerships operate on monthly sales quotas. To meet these targets, salespeople and managers are often more willing to negotiate and offer better deals as the month draws to a close. The pressure to reach quota intensifies as the last few days approach.
The Very End of December: The final weeks of December are particularly significant because they coincide with both the end of the month and the end of the entire year. This dual deadline creates maximum motivation for dealerships to offer substantial discounts and incentives.
Avoid the Start of the Month: Conversely, the beginning of the month is generally considered the least favorable time to buy. Sales teams are just starting their monthly sales cycle and are under less immediate pressure to make deals.
Overall, the best time of the month to buy a car is generally in the last few days. Try to schedule your dealership visit to avoid busy Saturdays and Sundays within this end-of-month window. If possible, it’s also wise to steer clear of January and February, as discounts are typically not as deep as in other months following the major year-end sales push.
Best Time to Buy a Used Car
January and February: If you’re in the market for a used car, the beginning of the new calendar year can be a particularly fruitful time. Following the surge of new car purchases and trade-ins at the end of December, dealerships find themselves with a larger inventory of used cars they need to sell. To manage this increased stock, they are often more willing to offer better deals on used vehicles to free up space on their lots.
October to December: The fall holiday season, with its new car sales events, also generates a steady stream of trade-in vehicles. This means that the end of the calendar year, from October through December, can also present opportunities to find affordable deals on used cars as dealership used car inventories are replenished.
What Are the Worst Times to Buy a Car?
Weekends, Especially Saturdays and Sundays: As previously discussed, weekend car shopping means contending with larger crowds and increased demand. In this environment, salespeople are less likely to offer significant discounts, knowing that there are plenty of other potential buyers. For a better negotiating position and more attentive service, weekdays are always preferable.
Early in the New Year (January and February) for New Cars: Outside of specific holiday sales events, January and February are typically slower months for car sales in general. While dealerships might still offer some discounts, industry data indicates that price reductions on new cars during these two months are generally the smallest of the year. This is because the major year-end sales events have concluded, and the push for the next big sales period hasn’t yet begun.
Summer (Unofficially): While summer might seem like a popular time for car buying, it’s often considered a less advantageous time for deals compared to the end-of-year periods. Summer is often seen as the unofficial start of the car sales season for the current calendar year models. If you have flexibility and aren’t in urgent need of a new car, waiting until at least May—or ideally September—can significantly improve your chances of securing a better price.
Choose Your Best Time to Buy a Car
Ultimately, the “best” time to buy a car is a personal decision that depends on your priorities. Consider what matters most to you: is it securing the absolute deepest discount, or is it driving off in the very latest model available? Carefully assess your budget, your transportation needs, and your financial situation. Ensure that you commit to purchasing a vehicle that you can comfortably afford, regardless of the timing.
Once you’ve aligned your timing with your needs and feel it’s the right moment to buy, remember that financing is a key part of the process. Explore your financing options and aim to secure favorable loan terms to complement your smart timing and maximize your overall savings.
