New car prices may already be at a competitive level we have rarely seen before, however, who can honestly say they still don’t want to score a bargain? Thankfully, if you’re not in an urgent position, then you can take advantage of some very distinct periods throughout the year to save yourself a small fortune.
Of course it always pays to do your research before you set out to visit a dealership, but here we’re talking about a great payoff. So just when is the best time to score a new car bargain? Let’s consider the options.
When a new model has been released
As soon as a new model arrives in the dealer’s showroom, the superseded model is set for a big discount. That’s because its value has dropped by some margin, yet alone once it drives out the showroom and depreciation kicks in.
Therefore, dealers will look to clear last year’s model as run-out stock. Not every buyer is fussed by this, however some may be conscious that the newer model could be better equipped or have other improvements the old model didn’t. Nonetheless, you won’t have trouble hearing about these sales, as they feature on TV quite prominently.
Just before the end of the financial year
The end of the financial year is often considered the best time to score a new car bargain. The reason why is that dealers need to meet their sales targets for the last 12 months.
As such, they will generally be inclined to sell stock at a lower price to help them shift vehicles that will count towards their bottom line. Although this is most likely to be stock from last year’s range, you can sometimes pick up a bargain on a recent release as well.
As the end/start of the year
There is typically subdued demand at dealerships when the Christmas and New Year’s holidays arrive. After all, many people go away on vacation, or otherwise prioritise their time and money towards other matters.
When January rolls around, dealers are then receiving new plate models and left with those from last year. So once again, if you’re fine with the idea of owning a car that has last year’s plates, you may well find dealers are only too keen to negotiate on prices.
At the end of each month
Since dealers typically run their accounts with monthly sales targets, it is prudent to consider negotiating a new car at the end of the month. You may wish to conduct your search and narrow it down to a shortlist beforehand.
But when it’s time to talk dollars, and sense, then you may have a better bargaining position to work the price lower on the car you are looking at. Although the other periods mentioned in this article are more of a ‘sure thing’, there is certainly no harm in trying at the end of any given month.