With the holiday car buying season here, consumers can take advantage of savings at the auto dealership. Geoff Cudd, creator of FindTheBestCarPrice.com, says that end of year is typically the best time to purchase or lease a car. And car dealers have not been getting any foot traffic because of Covid, so the deals are better than ever.
Geoff says, “Holiday car deals offer the biggest discounts all year long because of a trifecta of bonus milestones for salespeople—end of month, end of quarter, and end of year all at once. Salesmen are desperate to hit those milestones and are more willing to make a deal”
Geoff shares these car buying tips and his top deal picks to help you get the best possible deal this holiday season:
- If you can wait until after Christmas to purchase a new car, do so. The best time to buy a car all year long is between December 26 and January 4.
- To find the best deal, get quotes from several dealerships to introduce competition.
- Dealers may be willing to take a loss on an individual sale in order to gain an end-of-year bonus.
- Start a bidding war with dealers from the comfort of your home so you don’t have to speak to anyone!
- The No. 1 purchase deals this December are from Cadillac, with 0.0 percent APR for 72 months; with most finance deals including a sizable cash bonus of up to $2,500. The 2020 CT4 and XT5 are the more notable deals from Cadillac this month.
- The No. 1 lease deal is the Honda HR-V for zero down and $250/month for 36 months. However, it’s worth noting, Honda, Lincoln, and Volkswagen all have new 0 down lease deals for December.
- Leasing a luxury car is more affordable than you may think. You can get the No. 1 luxury lease, the 2021 Acura ILX for $239/month or the 2020 Lexus UX for $299/month instead.
- A majority of manufacturers are offering large cash back rebates this month on 2019, 2020, and 2021 models with the best offer being a cash incentive up to $10,808 for a 2020 GMC Yukon XL. Most GM brands may not be offering finance deals this month, but they are offering an “Employee Pricing for Everyone” special of high cashback incentives for December.
- Read the fine print on all incentives. You’ll need a credit score of 700 to qualify for the best incentives and loan rates.
- If you plan to trade in your current car, have a third-party appraise it and negotiate a trade-in value after you have purchased your new car.
