When is better for buying a new car: December or January?

Factual Questions
1

The Drum Goddess and I need to purchase new wheels. We’re thinking that December would be a good time, since there are lots of end-of-year sales. It occurs to me, though, that we might get a good deal if we bought a new 2002 model in January, 2003.

Anyone have any thoughts on this?

Thanks.

2

If there are any 02 models left, yeah you can get a pretty good deal in December as both the dealer and the factroy want them to go away.
I would suggest however that buying in Jan vs Dec is not as important as which day of the month you go to make your purchase.
There is an old saying in the car busines it goes like this

What this means is that by the end of he month, sales quotas have to be met. Car makers have been known to put extra incentives toward the end of the month (last day or so) to boost sales. Car dealers have also been known to accept a lower gross deal toward the end of the month to get someone to buy.
I would suggest that you start your buying process at the near the end of the month, and try for a deal on the last day or so. If it is raining/bad weather this is even better because the dealer hasn’t seen as many people come in and they may be getting real concerned about making their sales numbers.

3

Drum God-

Now is, in general, a good time to buy a car. There was a big sales spike about six months ago, which is now declining, but none of the manufacturers want to report declining sales. So they’re coming up with tons of incentives and offers to get people to buy cars they don’t really need. The upshot of this is that, if you DO really need a car, you can get it way below sticker price.

-Andrew L

4

If you do go for last year’s model, keep in mind that the car has depreciated for the year even though it hasn’t moved an inch off the lot. This info plus a trade-in (if you have one) can get you a pretty good deal, especially if the model has undergone major design changes. The ball is definitley in your court.

5

Also go check out Jeff Ostroff’s web site carbuyingtips.com for a lot of help on buying a car.

I bought a 4-runner in August four $5k under the sticker.