Best Time of Year

The winter months usually present good bargaining opportunities. With increased cash outlays for clothing, utility bills and holiday expenses, auto sales are slow and salespeople are eager to make a deal. The summer months can also be a good time to shop. This is when sales of the current-year model have slowed down and consumers are waiting for the new-model-year cars to be introduced. But be cautious during springtime. That’s when consumers come out of their winter doldrums and car sales increase. Dealers are less inclined to make price concessions while sales are up.

Best Time of Month

The end of the month is the best time to buy a new car. A salesperson prospers by consistently meeting or exceeding his or her monthly quota. To increase a salesperson’s incentive, dealers often have contests and offer bonuses for exceeding monthly quotas. As a result, salespeople are more likely to sacrifice a small part of their commission at the end of the month if it will help them meet or exceed a quota.

Best Time of Week

If you want the dealer’s complete attention, try shopping on a Thursday. According to one survey, dealers get the fewest shoppers on Thursdays, followed by Mondays and Tuesdays. Wednesdays are fairly slow, but Fridays and Sundays are popular car-shopping days. Saturdays are, by far, the busiest days in dealer showrooms. Sometimes dealers will pay a bonus to the salesperson who bags the first weekend sale, so arriving early on a Saturday morning may be a good bet. Then again, on Sunday afternoon a dealer may be struggling to meet a weekend sales quota and might be especially open to low offers.

So look for that late Sunday afternoon on the last weekend of the month in December!

Year-end Sales

Closeout specials at the end of the model year may look like great deals. But keep in mind that you’ll be buying a vehicle that’s already nearly a year old. When you trade in that vehicle three years later, its value will be based on it being four years old, not three. That loss in value may exceed any savings at the time of purchase. However, if you plan on keeping the car for many years the added depreciation is not as important, and the year-end special may make good financial sense. There is also clear appeal for high-mileage drivers: A three-model-year-old car with 60,000 miles will face a mileage penalty that a four-year-old car wouldn’t face, partially countering the initial depreciation hit.