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Car dealerships don't care how many units they sell a month in most cases. Salespeople, on the other hand, do sometimes have monthly sales quotas that they have to fill. So if the salesman you're working with is a little short at the end of the month he or she might work a little harder for you to get a deal; but the selling price still has to be approved by the sales manager or GM so ultimately their final bottom dollar isn't affected. And there's always the chance that you'll wind up with a salesman who has already made his quota and night try to delay the sale until the first of the month if he thinks he can get away with it.
That pretty much sums it up. Dealers aren't always concerned about end-of-month numbers, but they do want to clear out last year's models to make room for the new ones.
So I think August-September is best if you're willing to take what they have left.
Follow up....so I found a '05 Honda that has 80,000 miles. It is the top of the line model for that year and everything looks well cared for. The car fax said it was single owner and clean. I took it for a good test ride and it felt solid. I have 48 hours to close the deal. They wanted one price and I knocked it down from there. They offered a 2 year motor and tranny warranty for an extra $950. I don't know if I should do the deal and take the extra warranty considering the pilots have a very good track record. The reason I am considering it is because the vehicle is 7 years old. Any thoughts????
I was looking at a 2002 Subaru at a dealer. They wanted $4,500 for a car that had extensive repairs and 165,000 miles. It still needed some rust repair that was included in the price. I found a very similar car on Craigslist for the same price, no rust and 75,000 miles. I have bought the second car.
Remember dealers have to cover overhead and commissions so their cars are going to be more expensive even if they are not trying to cheat. Never buy a used car that you have not had a skilled mechanic check out.
If you are shopping for a used car that sells quickly (like a Honda or Toyota), there is no sense in trying to buy at a certain time. A clean used Honda Accord or CR-V will not sit for long on a lot. If you find what you like, be prepared to act and negotiate then. These cars arrive as tradeins or when bought at auction. So it is not as if the dealer just got a train load of new pickup trucks with many to choose from.
With over 30 years in the car dealership business I can tell you this
Dealership owners work monthly sale targets, new and used car sale managers have quotas to meet, when exceeded, bonus cash is paid, new and used car salespeople have the same deal.
So to get the best price on a new or used car, start in the beginning of the month, shop around, road test the cars you like and make your decision at your pace , don't be rushed, then check the prices on truecar.com and return to the dealer in the
last 3 days before the months end, not the last day. If the dealership has no chance of meeting their quotas on the last day of the month , the deal would be as good as 3 days before the end of the month when they still have a chance to meet their sales target.
Yup...car salesman...right down there with realtors and lawyers i]n term of ethics.
It's really my experience that realtors, car salespeople and Doctors are the ones you can't trust. A lawyer will tell you up front he's going to scr*w you!
I put Doctors on my list because I've been screwed by many of them. My last regular Doctor always used to try to sell me something, that at the very least involved a blood test. Well, I go to his office one time and it's locked up tight, seems he go indicted for working with the lab doing the blood work getting kickbacks. He's now practicing at Club Fed.
For used cars the end of the month might be good, only for someones quota. It really depends on how long they've been sitting on the car. I sold cars years ago, I learned 2 things about used cars. No one knows how much the dealership paid for the car, whereas new car dealer invoice price can be found online. A buyer can't go down the street and compare apples to apples with the dealer down the street. If I got a blue model with 18,000 miles on it, the odds of a dealer down the street having the same car are slim to none.
Don't assume if it's a new car dealer that the "used cars" on their lots are trade ins. Many new car dealers buy used cars at the auctions. Because of the first reason I gave above, usually the profits on used cars are higher, and there isn't the problem of scratches, etc. because, "Hey it's a used car."
Any day that ends in a Y is a good day to buy a car.
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