What is the Best Time to Buy a Car?

Following a tariff-induced buying surge, car sales are slowing. A combination of an inventory glut of new cars and an increasing number of perfectly fine, much less expensive late-model used cars is forcing manufacturers and dealers to offer the largest discounts on new cars since the pandemic.

There is still a right time and a wrong time to buy a new car, and the difference could mean hundreds, or even thousands, of dollars more in savings. By all means, you should take advantage of the car dealer’s current plight, but you should also use market timing to increase your advantage.

There are specific times of the year when car dealers are more anxious to move cars off the lot. There are also certain days of the month and the week when you are more likely to negotiate a better deal. In fact, you can increase your chances of getting the best deal by walking onto the lot at a certain time of day. If you are not under any time constraint when buying your next car, you can use the calendar to pinpoint the best time to approach the dealer.

The Best Time of Month, Week, Day

Regardless of the time of year you buy your car, the best times for negotiating a good deal typically occur at the end of the month, and even better, at the end of a quarter-ending month. Nothing motivates a dealer and a salesperson more than their monthly and quarterly sales bonuses. If you really want to drive them crazy, wait until the final hour on one of those days to start your negotiation. Walking onto the car lot a couple of hours before closing on any day can put you in the driver’s seat with a good deal because salespeople are always anxious to close the last deal before going home after 10 hours on their feet.

As far as the best day of the week, Mondays and Tuesdays are the best because they are typically the slowest days of the week. You definitely want to avoid the weekends because they are the busiest. Many car dealers will hold over holiday specials into the following week, so you don’t have to feel rushed into going on a busy weekend.

Best Time in the Spring

Spring is generally not a good time for new car deals because the good weather draws out all the car buyers who have been waiting out the cold winter. There are plenty of potential buyers on the car lots in the spring, so dealers don’t feel it necessary to cut any great deals. The first real opportunity to find good deals is the Memorial Day weekend, when you can find significant rebates and special financing offers.

Best Time in the Summer

The July 4th holiday sale is also a big rebate event on dealer lots, made even bigger because it coincides with the time when many dealers begin accepting next year’s models, creating an incentive to start moving the current year’s model off the lot. However, it is generally during the late summer months that dealers become a little more anxious to move their inventory. Late August and early September, especially over the Labor Day weekend, are active times.

Best Time in the Fall

If you missed the Labor Day weekend sales event, you can still find good deals through the fall because dealers must make room for new models. The last week of October has been known to be a great time to negotiate a deal on a current-year model.

Best Time in the Winter

It is not only considered to be the best time in the winter to buy a car, but it may very well be the best time of the year: New Year’s Eve. New Year’s Eve is the last day of the month, the quarter, and the year – the one time when all sales quotas converge with the first and last opportunity for salespeople and dealers to earn a monthly, quarterly, and big annual bonus based on a single day’s sales. Dealers are willing to give up profits because they will more than offset them with bonuses. The only downside of waiting too long in the calendar year to buy a current model car is that the inventory is much smaller, and the specific model you want may not be available.

An excellent strategy for securing the best deal on New Year’s Eve is to initiate a conversation with a salesperson early in the morning. Tell them you need to think about it, and then return to finalize the deal an hour before the dealer closes. You will be celebrating your New Year’s in a deeply discounted new car.