If you can manage the careful juggling of money and budgets, then buying a used car in the run up to Christmas can be a great idea, and you can potentially save a packet just by picking the festive season as your car-buying season.
Not a creature was stirring…
It gets really quiet in car dealerships at this time of year. With the new registration plate just days away, most car dealers are, in December, concentrating on taking new car orders for the first quarter of the next year. That means second hand sales are often rather quieter, so a customer coming in and looking for a used car is going to get more attention paid to them, and potentially find a sales person who could do with an extra sale to bump up their end-of-year numbers, increasing the potential for a good deal. It’s actually that rare case of ‘striking while the iron is cold’.
2. Dealers are keen to clear stock
It costs dealers money to have used cars in stock. Those cars have to be stored, have to be periodically cleaned, have to be occasionally moved around the place, and have to be maintained. As new car sales spike in January with the arrival of the new numberplate, dealers know that they’re about to get hit with a wave of second-hand trade-ins against all those shiny new cars, so they’ll be keen to clear out as much existing stock as possible, opening up both space, and resources, for the new year.
3. Car buying is still seasonal
It seems like a strange thing when you have to drive your car all year round, but there is an element of seasonality to car buying. When the days are frosty and cold, and there are patches of ice and snow around, four-wheel-drive cars tend to be more popular, and therefore a little more expensive because demand goes up. Remember the big freeze of 2010? Fiat sold out of Panda 4x4s that Christmas. The reverse is also true, so if you’ve got your heart set on a sporty and cool convertible, Christmas is a perfect time to buy it, as the casual convertible buyer is deep in hibernation, so demand — and therefore prices — are a little softer.
4. End of year figures
Just as with sales staff, dealers have final-year figures and targets that they want — in fact, that they need — to hit, and that includes second-hand cars, which are of course a vital element of any car dealer’s turnover. So, by arriving in the closing days of the year, you could well find a dealer who needs a sale to hit a critical number, and that could lead to a bit more of a discount.
5. You still need to be realistic
Just because you’re buying at a quiet time of year, don’t assume this means you can waltz out the gate with a practically-free car. Dealers work on narrow profit margins (those margins are a little better on second-hand than on new cars, but not massively so), so be realistic about how much of a discount you’re expecting. It can be better to try and haggle a better warranty, or some free servicing, than a sizeable chunk of cash off the sticker price.
6. Keep an eye out for pre-registered cars
We’ve already mentioned that car dealers need to keep hitting sales target numbers, and at the end of the year that’s especially important to them. Hence why they may choose to register one or two ‘demonstrator’ cars in an effort to log a new car as having a number plate and be able to add it to their list of registrations for the year. They’ll also be keen to get that car moved on as quick as possible, so keep an eye out for such cars as they represent fantastic value for money — effectively a new car at a used car price.
7. Keep an eye out for offers and promotions
The bigger car dealer groups will sometimes have special offers in the run up to Christmas, and while many of those offers will be focused on new cars, there will also be some bonuses for the used-car buyer, so watch for any promotions. These might not necessarily mean lower prices but could be in the form of a gift card if you buy a car, or extended warranties or similar.