First off, the timing of when you decide to purchase a vehicle is important if you want more negotiation space. That being said, we do not want to give you an age at which you should have your dream car, have a mansion, and own several estates at like 30. We do want to give you the time of the year most dealerships give the best deals.
End-of-the-Year/Christmas Sales
Wonder why you see so many ads from car brands during November-December? Its for two reasons: to get their brand out there and to get rid of inventory to make space for the next year’s upcoming models. Most dealerships love the month of December because that is their biggest months in terms of sales. Dealerships will opt for losing some money on a deal if it means they have less inventory at the end of December. The later in December you purchase a vehicle, the better the deal you get should be. Just assume that if stores are having holiday sales, dealerships are having them too.
Model Changeovers
You can save thousands of dollars by going with last year’s model. Dealerships want to get rid of the previous year’s model to make space the current year’s. Usually, the new model has not been modified too much compared to the previous model with the exception of slight exterior and interior designs and colors, slightly improved fuel economy, and new features. If people know that a new model is coming out (they usually come into the market during September to the beginning of November), then sales on the previous model slows down, so dealerships are willing to make better deals to get rid of them.
End of the Month
Just like what you do for the month of December, you want to wait towards the end of the month of each month to get the best negotiation space. The strategy with this tactic is to check the price of your selected vehicle before regional incentives (based on your zip code), then check the price of your vehicle after regional incentives, then shop for your vehicle and head to the dealership. Do not close then, but wait till the ending of the second to last week or last week of the month to see of a sales person may have budged to give you a better deal? Why will they budge? Dealerships have certain sales goal every month and they get raises for meeting or exceeding that goal. Chances are that they will budge to get that extra sale.
Holiday Sales
The familiar Labor Day, 4 th of July, and Memorial Day weekend sales ads happen every year. The reason is, again, over supply of previous year models, but also to get the current model up in sales. Its really as simple as that, but obviously Christmas/end of the year sales will offer up the best deals.
It has to be said that these are not guarantees to get you $10,000 or more off your car or even $5000, but these strategies will help reduce the cost some. You are not guaranteed to get the best deal with these tactics anytime you go the dealership, but at least you know that if you go at these times that you will have more negotiation space, just don’t tell a sales manager or person that you know this. The best way to get the best deal is to do a lot of research for weeks, maybe even months, and feel like when it is best for you, your bank account, and other in your life to purchase a vehicle.
