Best Time To Buy A 2018 Car
Most dealerships base bonuses on sales quotas, which are typically broken down into monthly, quarterly, and/or yearly targets. Car shoppers can take advantage of this schedule by timing their entry into the showroom to coincide with these push times. At the end of a month, salespeople looking to meet their goals may be eager to cut the price or provide alternative incentives such as low-interest financing to finalize a sale. In the current situation, with the most desirable vehicles essentially selling themselves, salespeople will only be looking to make a deal on the vehicles that have been sitting on a lot for at least a month, if not longer.
best time to buy a 2018 car
Some months are better than others for saving money, particularly the last three of the calendar year. Shopping for a car in October, November, or December is your best bet to get a deal, as sales teams feel the pressure to meet looming end-of-year quotas often affecting their bonuses.
As a result, car shoppers today face a limited selection and price hikes from either dealer-added (often non-negotiable) accessories or "market adjustments." Discounts of any sort are scarcer than the cars themselves, leaving the buyer with no negotiating power. There's also a greater sense of urgency to make a quick decision on a deal because the car may not be there if you take the time to think about it.
This means that these are far from normal times in terms of both the selection of cars available and the lack of discounts you may encounter. If you need a new vehicle today, we suggest starting your shopping process sooner rather than later since the chipset shortage will likely affect pricing and inventory at least through 2022.
If you're shopping for a new or used car in today's difficult marketplace, please see "Car Buying Tips for 2022" for our experts' targeted, data-driven advice. Note that the article below was originally written before the chip shortage when vehicle prices were relatively stable and predictable. If the shortages continue, there may be a so-called "best time to buy" for the foreseeable future. The best time in the current market is when you find a dealer that has the vehicle you want and is willing to sell it to you at MSRP or better, without any additional options that you may not need.
Buyers are always looking for a way to game the system and save money on major purchases. Much of this thinking revolves around zeroing in on the best time to purchase a particular item. Need a new TV? Shop on Black Friday or around the Super Bowl. Need a new winter coat? Shop in January.
It's no different for cars. Ask anyone, "When is the best time to buy a car?" and you'll get answers ranging from the end of the month to "wait until the new models come out." There are as many theories on this topic as there are days in the year. And, oddly enough, there is a grain of truth to many of them.
End of month
End of the calendar year
Best month to buy a car
Best day to buy a car
End of the model year
End of the car's design cycle
End of the car's life cycle
Three-day weekends
Black Friday
Best time to buy a used car
Simply put, here's our advice: The best time to buy a car is when you need it and feel ready to buy, regardless of the time of year. Car buying can be stressful, and it can take more than a month to go from deciding what to buy to actually closing the deal. Why add to that pressure by trying to squeeze your shopping into a certain day of the week or a holiday weekend when everyone has the same idea?
When the month is coming to an end, dealers might be a few cars short of a sales quota that would win them a big bonus. Salespeople will have more motivation to make a deal with a buyer and might deeply discount cars, making up any money lost with the bonus. This is the time when you shouldn't sleep on the car deal. Keep in mind, however, that if the sales team met its quota earlier that month, salespeople may not be as motivated to give you the screaming deal you might be expecting. This is difficult to know ahead of time. But if you're in the midst of negotiating and the dealer offers you a super-low price, take a moment to ask your salesperson why the dealer is willing to potentially lose money on this sale. If the reason makes sense to you, and the price is considerably better than your research says it should be, it could be a sign the dealer is trying to make a sales goal.
If you're feeling nervous about buying in a short end-of-month timeframe, test-drive the car in which you're interested earlier in the month and close the deal as the end of the month approaches. Also, many new-car incentive offers are good for a few days after the month ends, which gives you a bit of a buffer.
While the data shows that December is the best time of the year to buy, there are also a few other viable months. In other words, if you need a car in January, there's no need to wait 11 months to get a good deal.
If you need a car in October and want to get the best deal, you might want to wait until December, even though you'll run the risk of having fewer cars to choose from. Waiting will give you more time to do more research on the right car for you. You'll also be able to gather more price quotes.
Early in the week: This tip is more about the level of attention you can expect from a salesperson than about getting a killer deal. Weekends are typically the busiest time at a dealership. The salesperson might be juggling multiple customers, and the finance office is likely to be a bottleneck. But if you show up on a Monday or Tuesday, there will be less foot traffic. You can ask plenty of questions and the transaction should take far less time. In some parts of the country, however, dealerships are closed on Sundays. And as a result, Monday is a pretty busy day of the week. If that's the case for you, go on a Tuesday or Wednesday.
All the new model-year cars used to debut in the fall, making the end of summer a good time to shop for leftovers. These days, however, there is no unified new model-year season. For example, we see cars from the upcoming model year debuting as early as March of a calendar year. Even so, Edmunds data indicates that the end of the summer is a sweet spot for outgoing model-year vehicles.
Sometimes the manufacturer announces that it will stop making a car altogether. There's potential in this situation for even bigger savings. You should know that the car will depreciate steeply if it's being discontinued, but if you plan on keeping it for a while, it won't affect you. It's also worth looking into why the automaker pulled the plug on a given vehicle. Is it a matter of changing tastes, or was the car truly bad in terms of performance or reliability? In recent years, for example, SUVs have surged in popularity and many domestic automakers have discontinued (Ford dropping all but 2 cars from its North American dealerships) many of their sedans. Going further back, vehicles such as the Nissan Murano CrossCabriolet never really found an audience and the Pontiac Aztek had a face only Walter White could love.
Memorial Day: This holiday kicks off the summer buying season and is a solid time to get a deal. It's also when you will have the largest selection of outgoing models to choose from. Shop around this time if you're particular about a certain color or option package.
Labor Day: This holiday is the sweet spot in terms of selection and competitive pricing. It's not the very best of the year in terms of savings, but you'll have more vehicles to choose from than if you waited for the year-end deals.
New car models used to debut in the fall. But these days, there is no single time of year. Vehicles for the next model year can debut as early as the spring of the current year. And some cars don't debut until the spring or summer of their model year. In other words, you'll see some 2022 vehicles for sale as early as the spring of 2021. Some 2022 models, meanwhile, won't show up in dealerships until halfway through 2021.
As we've noted, you'll find many opportunities throughout the year to get a great deal on a new car. Ultimately, the best time to get a new car is when you need one and only after you have completed your research.
"Coming into the fall is a really important time for the automotive industry when they're trying to move the older model year vehicles out of inventory to make room for the new model year vehicles," Charlie Chesbrough, Senior Economist at Cox Automotive, told CNBC. "There's often, many times, extra-special deals on vehicles that haven't been selling too well."
As we approach the end of the calendar year, the pressure to move old models will ratchet up. Automakers don't want their dealers to be stuck with 2018 model-year vehicles on lots in 2019, so the cars that are still around in December will likely see the steepest discounts.
There's no getting around it: The COVID-19 pandemic that began traveling around the globe in 2020 affected everything, including how we buy cars. Protecting workers from illness meant fewer people in factories and sometimes shutting down manufacturing lines. That led to fewer cars being built but also fewer components for those cars being available as quickly as they used to be. Once the vehicles were built, shipping them around the world became more challenging, whether they were headed out by boat, truck or train.
When you know your mileage is climbing or your family situation is changing, take the time to begin the used-car buying process now. Start your research on features and set your budget, then scope out dealerships and private sales to get the lay of the land.
This tip is especially important when inventory is tight and sellers, either private or corporate, want to take advantage of higher prices. On a dry day with good lighting, it's easier to see dents, dings, scratches, rust, bubbling paint and any other flaws the exterior may have. You're also more likely to be willing to take the time to look for these flaws when you're not being soaked by snow or rain. 041b061a72