Buying a new car - best day in December?

[Anonymous]

As someone else noted, this seems like more a myth these days. Isn't the time in the Fall when new models come out the best time to buy the older model? Are there really incentives for end of the year sales? These days there is so much information available out there it seems pretty rare that one would pull off a good deal on a new car, if good is defined as something not available generally. I suppose there could be incentives from the manufacturers but I doubt anyone is going to be offering you too much for free unless they hit the bubbly a little early. Used cars seem different and there is a great This American Life story about a New York used car dealer I believe on December 31st.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is a cliche. The best day to buy a car is the day you need one. Do your research, drive a hard bargain, and you can get the "best deal" any day of the year.

I thought so too until I listened to this amazing This American Life show: https://www.thisamericanlife.org/513/129-cars - "We spend a month at a Jeep dealership on Long Island as they try to make their monthly sales goal: 129 cars. If they make it, they'll get a huge bonus from the manufacturer, possibly as high as $85,000 — enough to put them in the black for the month. If they don't make it, it'll be the second month in a row. So they pull out all the stops."

So there's no guarantee (and this was in 2013, for a Jeep dealership, and things may have changed and may vary by dealer), but if the dealership is trying to make a sales quota, then it can actually be in their interest to lose money on a specific car because they will more than make it up with a bonus.

So the best way to shop would be to not need a car now. Figure out what you want, do your research on prices, then over the next few months check back periodically, especially at the end of the month, to see if they can give you a deal.

[Anonymous]

This depends completely on the make and model, and whether the parent company is offering dealerships dealer cash or other incentives for sales. If Honda of America is offering $1500 dealer cash on 2018 Civics, most dealers will take an additional $1000 off their price to you once you start negotiating.

It used to be easy to find this information on Edmunds, but it's gotten harder. The best thing to do is find an owner forum for the make and model of car you want and look for a thread on purchase prices. You can get some ideas of what might be reasonable. The DC region is generally very good for deals because we have so many dealerships for the same parent company.

CPO and used car prices are not going to be as negotiable if you're buying them from the local Toyota/Honda/Mazda/whatever dealership. This is true any time of the year. Dealers don't get incentives like the above mentioned dealer cash on used, so there's less wiggle room.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Whoever said anytime in December is slow doesn't know shit about car sales. Most dealers will be doing what they can to move cars this entire month but you can guarantee the last week of the month they will be trying to give them away. My husband is manager at a huge Honda in our region and will only be home on Christmas day. They are completely slammed through the end of the year.

Would love an AMA from him (or you, if you have the knowledge). How much is reasonable to expect to pay on a new car (like is 10% off what they initially offer too low, etc?) This would be for a 2018.

Not PP but we bought a new 2017 this time last year (we looked the day after Christmas and pulled the trigger around the 28th) and we got it for right about 70% of MSRP. It was a popular model so we did better than expected, but it was one of the last 4 on the lot so we didn't get to pick our color or anything.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This depends completely on the make and model, and whether the parent company is offering dealerships dealer cash or other incentives for sales. If Honda of America is offering $1500 dealer cash on 2018 Civics, most dealers will take an additional $1000 off their price to you once you start negotiating.

It used to be easy to find this information on Edmunds, but it's gotten harder. The best thing to do is find an owner forum for the make and model of car you want and look for a thread on purchase prices. You can get some ideas of what might be reasonable. The DC region is generally very good for deals because we have so many dealerships for the same parent company.

CPO and used car prices are not going to be as negotiable if you're buying them from the local Toyota/Honda/Mazda/whatever dealership. This is true any time of the year. Dealers don't get incentives like the above mentioned dealer cash on used, so there's less wiggle room.

This is true; go in knowing what the national offers are (it's googleable). When we bought they generously offered us the national discount, and we were like, "thanks, that's from Toyota, now what can your dealership do on top of that?" Know what you're talking about and be prepared to walk.

[Anonymous]

What are the chances you can buy in the last week of the year and actually get your pick of colors/interior/options? At that point they're looking to get rid of what's on the lot -- and they'll work out a deal for that, they aren't going to work out a deal on a car they have to trade with/buy from another dealer to get the exact specs you want. Is saving 2k or 10k worth it to drive a cobalt blue Subaru or whatever is left? IDK about others but I'd rather pay more in a less rushed manner to get everything I want bc I don't buy a new car every year or two so I know I'll need to live with it for a long time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What are the chances you can buy in the last week of the year and actually get your pick of colors/interior/options? At that point they're looking to get rid of what's on the lot -- and they'll work out a deal for that, they aren't going to work out a deal on a car they have to trade with/buy from another dealer to get the exact specs you want. Is saving 2k or 10k worth it to drive a cobalt blue Subaru or whatever is left? IDK about others but I'd rather pay more in a less rushed manner to get everything I want bc I don't buy a new car every year or two so I know I'll need to live with it for a long time.

This post makes no sense. There’s absolutely no reason why a dealership would have less cars on the lot at the end of December. There’s no need for them to sell everything prior to the first of the year. There simply just trying to meet end of the year goals and if they’ve already met them then so much for a great deal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What are the chances you can buy in the last week of the year and actually get your pick of colors/interior/options? At that point they're looking to get rid of what's on the lot -- and they'll work out a deal for that, they aren't going to work out a deal on a car they have to trade with/buy from another dealer to get the exact specs you want. Is saving 2k or 10k worth it to drive a cobalt blue Subaru or whatever is left? IDK about others but I'd rather pay more in a less rushed manner to get everything I want bc I don't buy a new car every year or two so I know I'll need to live with it for a long time.

This post makes no sense. There’s absolutely no reason why a dealership would have less cars on the lot at the end of December. There’s no need for them to sell everything prior to the first of the year. There simply just trying to meet end of the year goals and if they’ve already met them then so much for a great deal.

The only real difference in December is all the people shopping hoping for deals, at least for Subaru. They turn their model years over in the summer, and they have a wacky system of distributing cars that doesn't give dealers a huge amount of say in which model, package, and color arrives, so they get what they get (and then trade as needed to get the cars their customers want). You aren't necessarily any better off shopping in December than you are during any of their other promos throughout the year, except that there might be more competition.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What are the chances you can buy in the last week of the year and actually get your pick of colors/interior/options? At that point they're looking to get rid of what's on the lot -- and they'll work out a deal for that, they aren't going to work out a deal on a car they have to trade with/buy from another dealer to get the exact specs you want. Is saving 2k or 10k worth it to drive a cobalt blue Subaru or whatever is left? IDK about others but I'd rather pay more in a less rushed manner to get everything I want bc I don't buy a new car every year or two so I know I'll need to live with it for a long time.

This post makes no sense. There’s absolutely no reason why a dealership would have less cars on the lot at the end of December. There’s no need for them to sell everything prior to the first of the year. There simply just trying to meet end of the year goals and if they’ve already met them then so much for a great deal.

Absolutely false. They still need to meet their quotas, could result in restructuring, the GM being fired, etc.. Each dealership wants to have top numbers for the year and isn't all ho hum about year end sales.

[Anonymous]

We found VW to be a great no haggle experience. Just bought a 2019 with all the features we wanted and they gave use National and dealer discounts upfront. Still a tiring process but now we have the car we want.

[Anonymous]

I just bought a forester and there are not a lot in stock regionwide, so haggling was tough.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Whoever said anytime in December is slow doesn't know shit about car sales. Most dealers will be doing what they can to move cars this entire month but you can guarantee the last week of the month they will be trying to give them away. My husband is manager at a huge Honda in our region and will only be home on Christmas day. They are completely slammed through the end of the year.

Would love an AMA from him (or you, if you have the knowledge). How much is reasonable to expect to pay on a new car (like is 10% off what they initially offer too low, etc?) This would be for a 2018.

Not PP but we bought a new 2017 this time last year (we looked the day after Christmas and pulled the trigger around the 28th) and we got it for right about 70% of MSRP. It was a popular model so we did better than expected, but it was one of the last 4 on the lot so we didn't get to pick our color or anything.

70% off MSRP? Unless you bought a flood damaged car that's not anywhere near possible

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Whoever said anytime in December is slow doesn't know shit about car sales. Most dealers will be doing what they can to move cars this entire month but you can guarantee the last week of the month they will be trying to give them away. My husband is manager at a huge Honda in our region and will only be home on Christmas day. They are completely slammed through the end of the year.

Would love an AMA from him (or you, if you have the knowledge). How much is reasonable to expect to pay on a new car (like is 10% off what they initially offer too low, etc?) This would be for a 2018.

Not PP but we bought a new 2017 this time last year (we looked the day after Christmas and pulled the trigger around the 28th) and we got it for right about 70% of MSRP. It was a popular model so we did better than expected, but it was one of the last 4 on the lot so we didn't get to pick our color or anything.

70% off MSRP? Unless you bought a flood damaged car that's not anywhere near possible

Sorry misread 70% of to off. That's still pretty amazing