The Best Time to Buy a Car & 8 Other Steps to Get the Best Deal

When’s the best time to buy a car? I can tell you that it’s not now. Between the microchip shortage and increased money supply, the cost of both new and used cars has increased dramatically since the start of the pandemic.

This unusual set of circumstances can’t last forever, though, and I expect the new and used car markets to begin normalizing as our world slowly returns to a new normal.

When that happens, Dr. Jimmy Turner’s advice and lessons learned from trading in a sports car for a big truck will come in handy. If you’re forced into being a buyer at this time, you’ll still gain some valuable information below.

This post was originally published on The Physician Philosopher.

 

 

I still loved driving my Chevy SS.  The roar of the naturally aspirated V-8 as I churned through the gears on my manual transmission was intoxicating.  Yet, the lack of practicality eventually got to me.  So, I traded in my Chevy SS for a Ram 1500 and saved 25% off of the retail price in the process.

With the help of an inside-industry source, I’ve learned a few things that I want to pass onto others. When is the best time to buy a new car?  Well, this post will walk you through a step by step process on how to buy a car, how to get the best deal on a new car (including how to negotiate new cars), the best time to buy a car, and much more! We’ll cover all of this so that you can walk away with the least consumer regret!

 

Best Time to Buy a Car & 8 Other Steps on How to Get the Best Deal on a Car

 

Though I encourage each and every one of you to read and understand the literature that is out there on buying “things,” I would be a hypocrite if I didn’t tell you that buying physical items isn’t something I do.  In fact, buying a new car is my one fatal flaw when it comes to personal finance.

I suspect if you are reading this, then you are a car person, too. Below I include some of the details from my recent experience when I traded in my Chevy SS for a Ram 1500 truck.  Through this experience (and some inside-intel from a close friend in the business), I’ve learned the best time to buy a new car and how to get the best deal on a new car. Here is the step by step process for negotiating a new car to the best price!

 

 

1. Get the Best Deal on Your Car (Trade-In)

 

First things are first.  Many people will be trading in an old car when they go to get the best deal on a new car. If this isn’t your situation, then skip to the next step! In order to get the best deal on your current car, you need to know the value.  The best way that I’ve found to do this involves using two different tools.

First, using the Kelly Blue Book website, you can punch in all of the characteristics about your car.  This will then produce a value range for your car based on the condition, miles, and options you have on your car. In my situation, I was trading in my 2017 Chevrolet SS. After punching in the details on my car, this was the Kelly Blue Book value:

 

From the outset, I was not going to sell my used car for less than $37,500.  Given that this is at the top of the trade-in range, was I being unreasonable?  No, because I used a second tool to determine the value of my used car trade. The second tool involves going to a few used car websites (Cars.com, autotrader.com, etc).

Using the same details that you placed into Kelly Blue Book, try and locate some cars that are just like your own to see the listing value for your car. The purpose behind this next step is to see how much money the dealership plans to make from selling your used car.  In my situation, there isn’t a used 2017 Chevy SS with a manual transmission selling for less than $39,000 in the continental U.S. This is how I determined that the lowest acceptable trade-in value for my car was $37,500.  Even at this number, the dealership would make money from my trade.

 

2. Know What You Want And Be Flexible

 

While it is important to know exactly what to expect for your trade-in, it is equally important to know what you are looking for.  Recognize that more bells and whistles do not equate with increased happiness. Make sure to do your research in order to determine which vehicle best suits your needs.

Once you arrive at the make and model, it is time to be flexible on a few of the other items. For example – in order to find the best time to buy a new car – you may need to be flexible on the timing of your purchase, the year of the car, and the color of the vehicle.

In my situation, I was looking for a Ram 1500 Crew Cab (I needed to comfortably fit three children in the back) with Four Wheel Drive (yes, it snows in North Carolina) and certain safety features (i.e. parking sensors so I don’t hit things when parking).  Since the 2020 Rams were now out, I could get a better deal on a 2019 model.  And I wasn’t stuck on a certain color, because I know that the color isn’t going to be the “end all, be all” for my happiness.

So, I was happy to get a dark blue, grey, or silver truck. In addition to this, I wasn’t in a rush to buy a new truck.  I told each and every dealer I could wait.  I love driving my Chevy SS.  The truck purchase was happening for practicality, and not because of need. This flexibility offered me options in finding the best time to buy a new car at the best deal.

 

3. Best Time to Buy a New Car

 

Now that you are armed with the right information on your trade-in value and you’ve researched exactly what you want, you can start the buying process.  Yet, you shouldn’t go buy a car at just any time of the month or year.

Regardless of what you’ve heard, there is definitely a best time to buy a new car. In fact, there are specific times that you should (and shouldn’t) go looking for a new car.

The first tip here is that the end of the month is much more likely to produce a good deal than the beginning.  The reason for this is that manufacturer’s set sales goals for dealerships each month that involve large bonuses to the dealerships for making their target.

As the month comes to a close, if these quotas aren’t met, the dealer will start to offer much better deals. This should make sense, right?  If you were a dealer, would you be okay with losing a couple thousand dollars on a car in order to get a $50,000 or $100,000 monthly bonus?  You bet. Dealerships also have financial quarter and yearly sales goals. This is the best time to buy a new car.

If you approach a dealership at the end of the month that is also at the end of a financial quarter (or the fiscal year), you might find the very best deal.  These months occur in March, June, September, and December.

The fiscal year for some car manufacturers ends in March while others end in December. However, if they have already met their goals, you might find a worse deal!  This is the reason for the next step, which helped me save 25% off my new truck.

 

4.  Involve Multiple Dealerships

 

Three days before the end of the month, I called into multiple dealerships and offered them my trade-in information and told them about the new truck I was looking to buy.  This is when the negotiation for my new car started, but it didn’t stop for another 72 hours.

Why did I contact multiple dealerships over a three day span?  Because of the sales goals I mentioned earlier.  Every single dealership is in a different sales situation.  Some of them have already hit their number.  These dealerships are unlikely to hand out a good deal.

Others are only a few cars away from hitting their goal, and may be willing to offer a sacrificial lamb to you in order to make their goal. As the month started to come to a close, the dealerships that were having a hard time meeting their goals started to call.  Some of them even told me the exact number of trucks that they needed to sell in order to make it. This is when I started to hustle hard to negotiate to the best deal.

 

5.  Always Walk Out After a Test Drive

 

As the dealerships who needed my sale the most started to come to the surface, I started test driving trucks.  I would walk in and inquire about a specific truck while they valued my trade.  All the while, I planned to leave the dealership regardless of what they offered me.  Even if it was exactly what I wanted!

Why would I walk out regardless of how good the deal was?  Because it saved me $2,000 every single time. It’s simple.  Dealerships know that people who walk out of their store after test driving a car are very unlikely to buy a new car without getting the best deal. Every single time I walked into to test drive a truck, I would leave.

Within the next 24 hours, every single dealership I walked away from called me and offered a better deal.  Most of them offered me a low-ball offer on my Chevy SS (usually around $35,000) the first time.  Each time I left, they would call back and offer me the $37,500 I wanted.

By walking out of the dealer, I saved an extra $2,000 on my trade-in.  This happened with three different dealers who pretended to be unable to negotiate on my car trade-in value. What then is the best way to compare the prices at each different dealership?  By knowing how much each dealership is offering OTD.