January is a bleak month in many ways, as we suffer from the twin financial and overindulgence hangovers of the Christmas period – so you might think it’s not the best time to buy a used car.
However, due to its very proximity to Christmas and the launch of the new registration plate, it could be the perfect time to pick up a bargain for the fiscally savvy.
Here’s why January is such a good time of the year for buyers of second-hand vehicles.
Dealers have lots of stock because of the new reg
People who have been ordering brand-new cars to ensure they get the new plate will have put their money down well in advance of January, but if they’ve got a part-exchange vehicle to hand in as part of the sale then these are going to end up on dealer forecourts in large numbers in January. That means the dealership will be keen to reduce stock levels, meaning bargains on second-hand cars can be had.
Post-Christmas is a slow time for dealers
Linked to the above, the actual new-car sales being effected in January are quite small, with most people having already signed up for 261-plate cars in the pre-Christmas period. Therefore, with targets to hit and not much footfall in the showrooms, dealers can be eager to sell whatever they can. And while they obviously prefer to shift new metal, moving used cars on the forecourt on still counts as a sale, so discounts can be negotiated.
There’s lots of used-car choice
That influx of part-exchange vehicles arriving as people switch up to the new plates can be great news for second-hand buyers, because the amount of choice of car you have increases. You won’t only be looking at older cars, with younger vehicles on PCP deals returning to forecourts on the two- or three-year cycles that are typical for these kinds of financial arrangements. And with the discounts already mentioned in play, it means your budget might stretch to something a little newer and better-equipped than you were imagining when browsing the classifieds back in December.
Private sellers might be desperate to liquidate assets
We’ve talked before about how pre-Christmas is not a great time to buy a car, because it’s a time of year when people are spending a lot of their disposable income on other things, like luxury foods and gifts for family members. Well, on the flipside of that, it’s also known that people don’t tend to have a lot of money to spare in January, as they may have over-stretched their credit cards during a hectic month in December.
Obviously, having the means to buy a car in January means you need to have been financially careful and saved up accordingly, or alternatively you can easily afford the monthly repayments on a loan to fund the purchase, but assuming you’re reading this advice because you’re already in that boat, you could potentially take advantage of people who need a quick injection of capital to their bank accounts in the new year. If someone is selling a car privately in January in the first place, it’s a good sign they’ve either had an expensive Christmas or they’ve just bought something newer themselves, so they’re probably very eager to recoup some of their expenditure by shifting a second-hand car quickly – meaning a cheeky offer from a buyer might be accepted more readily at this time of year than at others.
You’ve got a better chance of bagging a used car with a full NCT
Due to the dual new-registration periods which came into effect in the country in 2013, and the fact the NCT roadworthiness check is linked to the anniversary of first registration, the most common times of year for cars to be undergoing NCTs are January and July. Therefore, if the used car you are looking at is four years or older, it’s highly likely you’re going to get one which has just been put through its NCT by the previous owner – meaning you don’t have to worry about it for, potentially, another two years.