When Is the Best Time to Buy a Car?

Quick Facts About Timing Your Car Purchase

• Typically, the best time to buy a used car is at the end of the year, between October and December. 
• Leverage the end of the month and end of a quarter when looking to buy a new car.
• Monday is the best day of the week to purchase a vehicle.
• The worst time to buy a car is early in the month or on a Saturday when the dealership is at its busiest.

The best time to buy a car is in late December when yearly, quarterly, and monthly sales goals converge. Fortunately, there are plenty of other ways to shop smartly throughout the year. If a dealership needs to sell just a few more cars to unlock several tiers of incentives from the automaker, it could make sense to sell those cars at breakeven or better if that’s what it takes, including when the next year’s models come out. And that time is now. We’ll tell you about the best and the worst times to buy a vehicle and more.

• Leverage These Times for Buying Cars
• Best Day of the Week to Buy a Car
• The Best Holiday to Buy a Car
• Best Time to Buy a Used Car
• Consider the Previous or Outgoing Model Year
• When Do 2025 Cars Come Out?
• Worst Time to Buy a Car
• Final Thoughts

Leverage These Times for Buying Cars

1. End of the Month

• Buying at the end of the month is always a good idea, as car dealers work hard to meet monthly sales quotas.  
• Salespeople might be willing to sell a car at a loss to meet their monthly sales quota.
• Financial goals and sales quotas make it a solid time to buy.

2. End of the Quarter

And then there’s another period you could use to your advantage: the end of the quarter. Buying a car at the end of March, June, September, or December often leads to even better deals than buying at the end of the month, as dealerships are trying even harder to reach sales goals.

Best Day of the Week to Buy a Car: Monday

• Monday tends to be the best day of the week to purchase a vehicle.
• While it’s good to shop for a car at the end of the month or quarter, there’s an advantage to shopping at the beginning of the week. Studies have shown that car buyers get better deals shopping on Mondays than any other day of the week.
• Sales staff can spend more time negotiating on a Monday because car dealerships don’t get very busy early in the week.

Best Day of the Month to Buy a Car: The Last Several Days

• As mentioned above, dealers want to rid their lots of cars at the end of the month. They’ll be more willing to deal to make quotas.
• The best day might even be when the end of the month is on a Monday.

Best Holiday to Buy a Car: New Year’s Eve

• The best holiday to buy a car is New Year’s Eve.
• The timing is perfect on the last day of the year because it’s the end of the month, the end of the quarter, the end of the year, and a holiday when you might find incentives available on top of being the best possible time to buy a car.
• New Year’s Day is great, too, because holiday incentives usually extend through the first couple of days of January.
• Other holidays on the calendar can also work to your advantage for car buying. Additionally, since Black Friday is toward the end of the year, you’ll likely find good deals on cars from the outgoing model year as the dealership tries to clear the way for vehicles from the upcoming model year.

PRO TIP: Since holidays are usually busy times at car dealerships because of the well-advertised deals available, it’s good to get your car shopping done as much as possible before you even set foot on the dealer lot. Shop around on Autotrader and narrow your selection to a few specific cars.

This preparation will save a lot of time at the dealership, and your salesperson will appreciate it if you already have what you want in mind. If you plan on financing the car, try getting preapproved for a loan with your financial institution before you go to the dealership. It’s also a good idea to value your car trade-in ahead of time and consider using our Instant Cash Offer tool that brings the deal to you from various dealerships. You can choose the offer you prefer or use it to negotiate.

Best Time to Buy a Used Car

The best time to buy a used car is in the last quarter of the year, between October and December. Some of the same strategies that apply to the best time to buy a new car apply to used cars, but not all. Like new cars, it’s good to shop for a used car early in the week and toward the end of the year. However, holiday deals and new car incentives usually don’t apply to used models.

The last quarter of the year is peak buying season for new cars. Many of those new cars are bought by folks who trade in their cars to the dealer. Those trade-ins become used car deals available to you that the dealer wants to get rid of to make room for new models from the upcoming model year.

Not only do you get good prices on used cars toward the end of the year, but you also get a great selection. These opportunities exist because of the influx of trade-ins that dealerships often see toward the end of the year, with drivers buying new cars and trading in their old ones. If you want the savings that come with a used car purchase and a wide variety, waiting toward the end of the year creates another advantage when shopping for a used car.

TIP: Thinking of buying or selling a car? Use our private seller exchange where interested parties can transact safely and easily. Any funds go into escrow, taking the pain points out of transactions.

Consider the Previous or Outgoing Model Year

An excellent way to use timing to your advantage when buying a new car is by getting a vehicle from the previous model year. You can also get a good deal by purchasing a new car toward the end of its model year, for example, a 2024 model in December 2024.

Traditionally, new model year vehicles start coming out in the fall of the previous year. For example, a 2025 model will typically debut in the fall of 2024 — and dealerships usually want the old stock gone before the new model arrives. But that doesn’t always work out. And if a 2024 model is still on the lot when a 2025 model arrives, dealerships will usually offer heavy discounts on the older model to sell it.

That said, there could be some drawbacks to this. If you buy last year’s model, and the new version is substantially changed or updated with a new look or new features, you won’t have the latest and greatest in technology or design. For some shoppers, that’s a deal-breaker, but other drivers who want the best price probably won’t mind.

Another potential drawback of buying from the previous model year is that you can’t be too picky. You’re limited to purchasing something the dealer has sitting on the lot. If you have your heart set on a specific color, certain wheels, or particular features, you may not find exactly what you’re looking for in a dealer’s inventory from the previous model year. However, if you’re flexible, this is a great strategy to get a good deal on a new car.

When Do 2025 Cars Come Out?

Typically, manufacturers like to introduce a new model year car in the fall of the previous year. However, these days, they unveil cars throughout the year. As a result, some model year 2025 vehicles arrive earlier in dealerships across the United States. The changeover makes it a great time to seek out the outgoing model year vehicle.

Manufacturers like getting a jump on the new model year vehicles, including if it’s a special release. This eagerness means you may see a 2025 model sell for 18 months instead of a year when the 2024 model debuts in a more traditional timeframe. This expanded window gives buyers of those early models several months free of car depreciation because, after that period, their car will still be considered a year-old model.

Worst Time to Buy a Car

The worst time to buy a car is early in the month or on a Saturday when the dealership is at its busiest. Dealers typically aren’t in a rush to hit sales targets when they have a whole month ahead.

Some exceptions to this timing are when holiday incentives continue early into the following month, like New Year’s Day and sometimes Memorial Day.

Saturday is a popular time to shop for a car for obvious reasons: most people work during the week when the dealership is open. Getting a good deal on a car is hard when the sales staff is busy and the finance office is bottlenecked. Not only does the salesperson not have a lot of time to give you undivided attention, but if you don’t buy the car you’re looking at, someone else likely will. These factors make it tough to get a good deal on a car on a busy Saturday.

TIP: Did you know you can search for a new or used car by budget?

Final Thoughts on the Best Time to Buy a 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. This period is also when dealers see an influx in trade-ins, making it an excellent time to shop for used cars as well. That doesn’t mean buying a car earlier than October is a bad idea if you use the timing and strategies outlined above.

However, be wary of tariffs on imported cars which may affect when you should buy.