We are heading into peak car-buying season, which, thanks to Ireland’s registration plate system, also happens to coincide with the Christmas season. On January 1, the registration plates will flip over to “261”, and we can expect a burst of new car sales as buyers eagerly gobble up the shiny new numberplates.
Why, though? Why are we so obsessed with getting a new registration on our cars? Is it simply old fashioned ‘keeping up with the Joneses’? Yes, seems to be the answer, and while there are some concerns that a car with a late 252 plate will be worth slightly less in a year’s time than one with a 261 plate (which somehow looks a year newer, even though the two cars may have been registered just weeks apart), there’s little beyond anecdotal evidence to support that. Over the first three years, any difference in residual value is likely to be minimal. Condition, mileage and history have a much bigger influence on a car’s long-term value.
So, can you bag yourself a bargain if you buy before Christmas? Or is there a valid reason — beyond showing off to next door — for waiting for January 1?
The answer is actually yes to both, and it kind of depends on where your priorities lie.
If your focus is on getting the best possible value for money, then a pre-Christmas purchase of one of the last 252-plate cars is definitely the way to go. Dealerships will be falling quiet towards the end of November and the beginning of December, ahead of the gathering swell of buyers coming in to order for January. A quiet time is always a good time to buy, as sales staff will in general be keen to bump up their monthly figures.
The trick here is to be unfussy about the precise colour and spec of the car you’re buying. If you’re happy to simply buy the make and model of the car that you want, and aren’t too fussed about the optional extras, then buying from a dealership’s stock is always going to land you a better bargain as not only is the dealer racking up a sale, they’re also going to be saving some cash on top of that in terms of the cost of storage and display. Assuming you get a nice fat discount, everyone wins and a deal on the day works out best for all.
Of course, if you are particular about your colours or your specifications, then it may be better to not only wait for January, but even wait until after January, when the initial rush of new car sales starts to subside, and then swoop in with your configured car and your order.
This is true not just for January, but for any time of the year. The best time to buy a car is always at the end of a month, or the end of a quarter, as that’s when dealers will be at their keenest to get stock out the door and to bump up their sales numbers — if they hit the right numbers, then many will be in for substantial bonuses, so there’s an added incentive to do a good deal.
Buying in January itself isn’t really a clever idea. Most of the cars registered in January will have been ordered already — they, after all, have to be built and shipped here — so mooching into a car dealer in the first week of January and expecting to walk out with a shiny new car is a bit optimistic. Most new cars have a four-to-six-week build and delivery time (some much longer than that) so ordering in January means that you’re going to end up with a February or March car anyway. If you’re one of those people who wants to pick up their newly registered car on New Year’s Day, well you should probably have already ordered it by now.
Is there a genuinely compelling reason for waiting until the new registration plate is due, though? Actually, yes there is and it’s down to the arrival dates of new cars. Irish car companies and importers know well enough that the bulk of new car sales will be in the first three months of each year, with a second smaller spike in July, and they plan the arrival of their new models, and new model-year versions, accordingly. So if a car maker has, say, an improved electric model with a bigger battery and a better range, it will in all likelihood be aiming to have that new car landing in time for the January or July plate-change, so if you want the newest and best, plan your purchasing accordingly.
Equally, if it’s bargain-hunting that you enjoy, keep an eye on the car-review websites and magazines and stay abreast of when new models and major model-year updates are due to arrive, as dealers and importers will be keen to clear stocks of the outgoing versions before that date. A notable example of this is the last of the second-generation Nissan Leafs, which sold out in Ireland ahead of the arrival of the all-new model, because Nissan gave them a hefty discount to shift the stock.
There is one final piece of best-practice advice, though — ignore all of the above. You see, buying a car is a big, expensive thing to do. As many financial experts have pointed out over the years, it’s the second-most expensive thing you will own, after your house. If that’s the case, then you shouldn’t really be dancing to the tune of the car companies and their retail schedules, nor the government departments and their decisions on when registration plates change. Instead, you should plan your car purchase around what you want, what you need, what you can afford and when all of those factors come together.
It can be fun, interesting and even financially prudent to play the before/after new registration game, but the most important thing to do is to buy when it suits you best to do so.