       As a woman, buying a car is the most dreaded affair on the planet. Car salesman are pushy and don’t take women seriously as negotiators. Timing of your purchase can reduce negotiation stress by 50%. Find out when you should plan your purchase!
Shop During the Week and Avoid Weekends
Oh yes, you read that correctly, avoid shopping weekends!
      Most car shoppers are off of work on the weekends. All of us know that shopping for a car can take hours. So waiting until the weekend is the preference of most of us.
      However, the weekends provide the most commission opportunities to the salesman.
     Weekend shoppers are the ideal target from the dealerships standpoint. They can afford to allow shoppers to walk away and don’t have to negotiate low prices.
     As the buyer, your best opportunities are on Monday’s and Tuesday’s. Monday’s are the absolute best.
    This is the slowest commission day of the week. You receive more one on one attention from the salesmen since they are free from distraction.
    Also, lenders are usually only open during the week. Being able to get you approved for financing is 10 times easier, saving time for the dealership.
Your Best Friends Are Late Month and Late Year
This next section of information is true for both new and used vehicles.
    Used vehicles on a new car lot are usually only 3 years old. Car dealerships will offer 3 year leases on brand new cars then sell them as used.
    Each dealership company will encourage its sales personnel to meet certain quota sales by the end of each month, quarter, and year.
    These companies offer the sales personnel cash bonuses and sometimes luxurious vacations.
    When you get to the end of a quarter or year the incentives are higher than the end of the month. (A quarter is the end of a 3 month period. Example: March, June, September, and December are all ends of a quarter.)
What does this mean for you?
    This means when you try to negotiate during these time periods the sales person is more likely to push their management team harder to approve a lower commission.
    The sales person will make up the difference if they earn the cash bonus for meeting their company quota.
    Here are the rules to help you save more money with this information:
- The best end of the month/quarter dates are around the 26th, 27th, and 28th.
- If you are shopping in December the best dates are the 24th, 27th and 30th.
    If you are looking for the absolute lowest price you could possibly get throughout the year and are able to wait; go on these December Dates.
    Due to Christmas and New Year’s falling into the same month dealerships have hiked up their salesman incentives to the absolute highest price in order to meet company targets.
   The salesman is more likely to work with you on negotiating the price.
    Also, according to Carfax.com (article here), Christmas Eve has the lightest customer volume as well as car deals. You could get your best deal on a car on this date.
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These Holidays Have the Best Deals
      If you are in a situation where you can’t wait for Christmas Eve to purchase a car don’t worry. There are a few holidays throughout the year that could offer you a good deal.
Memorial Day
      When you think of Memorial Day you think of visiting lost loved ones, barbecuing hamburgers and hotdogs, going to the lake and short weekend vacations with the family.
Now you need to add buying a car to that list.
      Are you aware that the next year’s car model actually releases in June of the previous year?
     When June of 2020 gets here the brand new cars for 2021 will start to arrive at the dealerships.
Ok, big deal, what good does that do me?
      The dealerships have already heavily discounted the cars currently sitting on their lot Memorial Day weekend in order to make room for the new models.
Even the brand new 2020 models will be on sale!
Black Friday
      Everyone I know who loves to shop goes crazy over the potential deals they could be getting when Black Friday rolls around.
Guess what? The car dealerships are getting in on this trend too!
     Be forewarned! This is the busiest holiday to shop for a good deal at the car lot. You aren’t the only savvy shopper out there.
     Be prepared for long waits and less attention to negotiate in comparison to any other time of year.
New Year’s Eve
     This holiday is awesome! Not only do you receive discounts for it being a holiday but you get year-end discounts on top of that!
     With this literally being the last day of the calendar year to meet company quota the cars are discounted deeper than any other day of the year. (I can’t confirm if the discounts are better than Black Friday)
     Even with the heavy discounts the sales personnel will be willing to negotiate even lower prices to make the commission while moving cars off the lot. This will be your easiest day of the year to negotiate (according to Carfax.com).
Set your google calendar reminder now!
Buy A New Car Model Around Labor Day
     Now, as stated earlier, the tips in this blog are the same for both used and new car models.
But this section you are about to embark on is strictly for new car models.
     Prior to going to the car lot you should be arming yourself with as much information as you can about the car you are looking for.
     If you are looking at brand new models of the current year start researching which models are:
- Selling the slowest
- Are about to go under a major redesign
- Or being discontinued altogether.
     I was able to get a brand new 2005 Chevy Cavalier 2-dr for $12,500 brand new when I was still a broke college student (this was in 2005).
     The reason the price was so cheap is because this was the last year they were making that model. Chevy was getting rid of the cavalier in order to bring out the cobalt.
    Despite popular beliefs about discontinued models parts are not difficult to find, more expensive, or discontinued. For the new cobalt they actually used a lot of the cavalier engine.
    They were still making parts for my cavalier because they were using them in other car models.
   The traditional model year actually ends near Labor Day for cars domestically made. International models end 1 to 2 months after Labor day.Â
    If you are on the market for a brand new car this year wait until the weekend of Labor Day for a 2020 model.
    Take note, the downside to this is you will be taking a car as is off of the lot for this discount. You won’t be given the opportunity to order a model with your preferred options for the negotiated price.
This also means you will need to be flexible with the color.
     Also, the car will have already lost 1 year of depreciation the day you are buying it; even though it hasn’t been driven off of the lot yet.
     This type of purchase is recommended for someone who is only concerned with driving a reliable car and doesn’t mind which extra options (or lack there-of) they have.
Concluding Thoughts
     Negotiating the purchase price for a new, or new to you, car shouldn’t be a scary endeavor. As long as you get your timing right it will be easier than you think.
     Take inventory on how well your car is currently operating. Is it making a new noise or you know it is definitely on its last leg?
     Start researching what type of car you want to replace it with now; even if you can’t currently afford it. Researching your preferences as well as price checking can take over a month depending on how thorough you are.
Happy Shopping!
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