If you’re in no rush to buy a car, the end of a model year is a great time to get a deal. Determining when this is for a particular car can be difficult, but if a dealer has two years of a new vehicle on its lot (say, 2014s and 2015s), chances are the older ones are going to be priced to move. The last week of the year is another good time to buy. You’ll find lots of specials and manufacturer incentives at both times of year.
If you’re looking to get information on a car or talk about a deal, but you aren’t quite ready to buy, a weekday afternoon is a great time to go visit a dealership. You’ll get more personal attention than you would on a busy weekend.
If you’ve already picked out a car from a dealership’s online inventory and worked out a price, do as much of the deal paperwork you can get over the phone. In many cases, you can be in and out of a dealership in less than an hour if you started the deal-making process online and over the phone. Why sit around in a showroom if you can avoid it?
Test-drives are still an important part of car buying. Bring along the people who will regularly ride in the car with you, if possible. Have them try all the seats. It’s better to learn that your teenage son doesn’t fit in the backseat before you buy the car, not after.
When deciding where to buy, read online reviews to help you pick a dealership. In addition to checking their ratings, see if the dealerships you’re considering include free perks such as lifetime oil changes or free car washes. Or free manicures and massages.
Get a good explanation of your new car’s features. I’ve met so many people who traded in cars after years of owning them without ever knowing how to use some of the features. And in some cases, they didn’t even know the car had a particular feature.
Don’t overbuy. The most expensive model in the line isn’t necessarily the best one for you. I once worked with a retired couple who wanted a top-of-the-line car. They insisted on all the available bells and whistles. But they weren’t particularly tech-savvy and never really got the hang of the navigation system, which they didn’t really need, but which controlled both the air-conditioning and radio. They spent endless hours with me at the dealership trying to master the thing. I was happy to help them, but I think if they had skipped the pricey navigation system, they would have enjoyed the car much more.
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