Best New Car Deals In Your Area (2024)

FAQs

What is the best month to buy a new car? ›

As a general rule of thumb, the later in the year you're shopping for a car, the better deal you're likely to get. Shoppers will typically see the most attractive incentives available for new cars in October, November, and December.

In most cases, you'll still need to negotiate the value of your trade, the cost of financing and the price of any add-ons. If a car is in high demand, a dealership can charge far more than the sticker price. When demand is lower, you can expect to pay less than the sticker price.

But by looking at the TMV or the Edmunds Suggested Price, you can get a rough idea of how popular the vehicle is and what you should expect to pay for it. If you already have a quote from the dealership, use the Edmunds Price Checker to help determine if you're getting a good deal.

Knowing that the price is often flexible and feeling confident with your budgeting and financing options can help you work with the dealer to find a price that makes everyone happy. Remember, negotiating with a dealer over a new car price is fundamentally the same as any negotiation.

According to iSeeCars.com, January and February are typically months with the most discounts available, while data from Edmunds.com ranks January and February among the months with the smallest discounts.

Monday is usually the best day of the week to buy a car. This is when showrooms will be the least busy, which means you'll likely get more time and attention from the sales staff and have more time to go on test-drives. Edmunds suggests Tuesday is a better option than Monday if the car dealership is closed on Sunday.

When negotiating, it helps to be able to justify what you're asking for, he adds: “Instead of saying, 'I want to pay this,' try something like: 'I've looked at five or six different cars that are similar to yours in the market. The price range goes from $19,500 to $20,700. I'm comfortable making an offer of $19,100. '”

It's advisable for buyers to be prepared, do research on the vehicle's market value, and be willing to negotiate to reach a mutually agreeable price. However, some dealerships may have fixed or no-haggle pricing policies, where the listed price is non-negotiable.

Unfortunately, it isn't an exact science because it changes from car to car and dealer to dealer. However, you can use the guideline of 2 or 3% on less expensive brands, and 5 to 10% on luxury brands as a rule of thumb.

How much below MSRP is a dealer invoice? ›

Typically there is a margin of three to eight percent between invoice and MSRP. On your lower-end cars, like a base-model Toyota Corolla, that number will be closer to three or four percent.

How much of my salary should I spend on a car payment? According to our research, you shouldn't spend more than 10% to 15% of your net monthly income on car payments. Your total vehicle costs, including loan payments and insurance, should total no more than 20%.

Tell the salesperson that you simply want what you know it's worth. Provide the figures to back this up, along with printouts from several pricing sources. This defuses any attempt to pull out a used-car pricing book so the salesperson can “prove” that your figures are too high.

It's good practice to make a down payment of at least 20% on a new car (10% for used). A larger down payment can also help you nab a better interest rate. But how much a down payment should be for a car isn't black and white. If you can't afford 10% or 20%, the best down payment is the one you can afford.

The end of the calendar year — specifically October, November and December — is typically one of the best times for car shoppers to get deals on vehicles. Cars sold during this time usually come with higher discounts and incentives than those sold during other times of the year.

The End of the Year Is a Good Time for New Cars

“For the sake of making space for next year's inventory, dealerships are in a rush to unload current-year models,” she said. “Big sales events with steep discounts, such as Black Friday and end-of-year clearance sales, occur during this time.”

October, November and December.

The late-fall months also are a great season to find deep discounts on vehicles. That's because the end of the year is a very busy and important season for dealerships and automakers. As calendar years wrap up, dealerships want to sell as many end-of-cycle models as possible.

Worst Times

Warmer weather and tax refunds bring buyers out in droves. With so much demand, dealers are far less likely to be in the mood to lower their prices. Plus they still have several months before the new models flood the lots. At the beginning of a new model year (assuming you want next year's model).

Since January is the slowest month for sales, it is much slower for luxury cars to sell. Because of this, it may be more challenging for the most expensive ones to be taken out of your parking lot. To sell out the most expensive ones in your inventory, January is the best time to offer promotional deals to the buyers.