When is the best time to buy a car?

Semiconductor chip shortages and tight inventories have led to record vehicle prices during the pandemic and continue to limit the number of deals and incentives available to car buyers.

Although the recent car market forces buyers to adjust the way they buy cars, there are still tried and true patterns regarding the best time to to buy a car.

The offers and incentives that buyers will find today will not be as good as those offered before the pandemic. Still, dealerships often offer discounts at the end of the year, at the end of the model year, and around certain holiday seasons, saving car buyers money.

If you have your eye on a particular car model, it’s usually a good idea to wait to make a purchase until a newer model comes out. As new models become available, dealers are motivated to eliminate previous model year cars to make room for newer inventory and, therefore, offer discounts on outgoing models.

Manufacturers usually release new models in the fall. But Kelley Blue Book editor Matt Degen says that’s changing as new models debut earlier in the year.

Even in the summer, you can come across one-year-old models that are already on the market, says Degen. “And in this case, the old wisdom applies that if the outgoing model still works for you and your needs, you might be able to get a good deal on that.”

The end of the calendar year – particularly October, November and December – is usually one of the best times for car buyers to get deals on vehicles. Cars sold during this time usually come with higher discounts and incentives than those sold at other times of the year. This is because dealers have annual quotas that sellers must meet and therefore tend to offer more deals to remove cars from the lot at the end of the year.

Buyers can also find comparable discounts at the end of the month or at the end of each quarter (March, June, September and December), for which dealers also have sales targets to meet.

It should be noted that while these periods historically offered greater discounts, it is often more difficult to find discounts and incentives in today’s automotive market.

“If you’re looking for the best deal on a car and have time to wait, it’s usually the end of the month and then the end of the year – that’s sort of the traditional advice for people who are looking for a lot,” says Degen. But he adds that the past few years have been anything but typical, which means that while there are still deals to be had, they are harder to come by – in the same way that it is harder to find the car. exactly as you want.

Certain holidays, usually those that coincide with the arrival of new models and year-end quotas at dealerships, also tend to feature some of the best automotive promotions:

• black friday. This shopping day offers some of the biggest retail discounts; the same goes for car purchases. Buyers are likely to find vehicles at lower prices and with more incentives during this time.

• Holiday weekends. Manufacturers and retailers typically offer discounts and promotions around certain holiday long weekends, including Presidents Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Memorial Day, and July 4th. For example, according to data from car search engine iSeeCars.com, Presidents Day offered 32.5% more deals on used cars than the average day from 2018 to 2019.

• New Year’s Eve/New Year’s Day. Many year-end sales extend into the early days of the new year, making New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day great times to find savings on cars. The days coincide with both the end of the year and the end of the quarter, which are known to offer discounts to buyers.

Whenever you buy a car, research is key, especially in today’s turbulent market.

“You need to know, obviously, what kind of car will work for you, what car will work for your budget, and how much you should be paying for that car,” advises Degen. “It’s all that research that’s really more important than ever.”