Buying car in December

[Anonymous]

We are thinking of buying a car in December. I heard it is a good time to buy because dealers want to meet sales targets. Does it make a difference whether we buy around Dec. 20 vs. Dec. 30-31? I think the New Years Eve deals will be better, but we will be out of town. Just wondering how big the difference may be. Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Totally depends. There are usually New Year's sales, but they will be trying to move cars before then too. And the particular car you want may or may not be moving depending on stock and model year timing. When we tried this a few years back on a particular Subaru model, we ended up buying in late January because no dealers had the car left on the lot in December. Other friends have done well with the same approach. Just know the car you want and how much you're willing pay, and go from there.

[Anonymous]

We wanted to push it to the last week but they were running out of last year's models by the 20th. We got a really good deal (27% off sticker) but didn't get to choose our color because they were down to 5 cars of the same color by that point. Didn't matter to us but might matter to you.

It will also depend on dealership -- we went to three and two competed for our business but the third didn't seem like they could possibly care less. When we asked for their best out the door price they quoted us sticker + taxes/fees. On last year's model, at the end of the month/quarter/year.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thanks so much for your posts! Would love to hear any other experiences with this.

[Anonymous]

The absolute best deals according to my brother (works at an Audi dealership) is the last day of the year. That being said, there are also stellar deals at the end of the quarter. The risk with last day of the year is like what the other poster said in that they may not have the 2018 available or very limited stock. We just got $8,000 off sticker price and a maintenance package on our 2018 vehicle (it’s the end of the quarter). DH totaled our Honda otherwise we would’ve waited until end of year. We still got a great deal last weekend. However, they only had four 2018 left on the lot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks so much for your posts! Would love to hear any other experiences with this.

It depends on the dealer, car, and market conditions. I would generally not time the market like this except in very general terms. If you have a car in mind already, find out what other people are getting in terms of discounts. If it is a mass market model and not something extra special, about the only time to avoid is the 2-3 months when a new model year is released. This is the time the dealer gets rid of older model year units on the lot. After that the deals are about the same on the newer model year.

You do get *some* additional money off of a remaining unit of prior model year, but it's not as much as people think, and you will lose a similar amount on resale due to the one year older model year.

The key is to investigate what others have purchased a similar car for recently. There are plenty of discussion forums where this information is shared freely.

[Anonymous]

Bought my first car Dec 30th. Got a great deal, it was a "last year" model (still new). The newer model at the time was a big change, which probably helped.

[Anonymous]

There is no really "good" time to buy a car - sales targets are a moving number, and if the dealer has already met they aren't going to be inclined to give a better deal. The best time is really one that isn't that busy, whatever month.

The key is finding the EXACT car you want, then emailing 3-5 local dealers for an out the door quote. Narrow down to 2, and have them make their best offer. Then ask the lowest to drop $250 off and walk away with a great deal. The difference between the highest price someone pays and the lowest is likely in the hundreds of dollars - you can spend 4 weeks haggling over the last $5 or do all of the above in about an hour and walk away with an excellent deal.

The other trick is to figure out what dealer accessories you want (upgraded floor mats, trunk liner, etc.) and ask them to throw in for free - they get these for pennies on the dollar and are often happy to be rid of them. Also offer to rate 10/10 on every survey - this they ARE compensated on and anything under 10 is effectively a 0.