Best time of year to buy a car?

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Star10

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Just a question as to when is the best time of year to buy a car from a dealer?
Also, should you expect much a of a discount for a cash payment as opposed to finance please?
 
Some may differ with my opinion but I've been looking to trading in my Hyundai i40, 2 yrs old and the 4 places i've recently visited showed good manners, told me what it would cost me to trade up, etc, etc, but there was no pushing me, no pressure and the price I was given was "it". Take it or leave it and no contact from them since. Something tells me that's the way it has gone, you get your price, your choice.
 
End of a quarter, you might get lucky with a dealer looking to hit targets for volume sales to earn a discount/ incentive from the manufacturer. A lot will depend on what make/model/spec you're after as well though. If you're prepared to take a model in a colour/spec that isn't proving too popular, they already have on stock, they might be more flexible.
 
If you are prepared to buy a demo model with a low few thousand kms on the clock, March or Sept can be a good time. Also if the car is in stock already as opposed to having to order it in new, the dealer might be glad to get rid of a car, especially if they have a lot of trade ins that they are trying to move on
 
Demos are cars the dealer registers and uses for test drives / loan vehicles for service customers. Typically the sales staff also use them as their company cars.

The rental returns are know as hire drives and they go out to the likes of Avis, Thrifty etc.
 
Yes but rentals are sold back to dealers within 6 months and remain registered in garage name for the registration period
 
Does it really matter if a car is a demo or a rental if you are getting a good deal ??
 
Star10 said:
Just a question as to when is the best time of year to buy a car from a dealer?
Also, should you expect much a of a discount for a cash payment as opposed to finance please?
Click to expand...

If buying new, better deals always seem to be available for new year delivery’s. I believe the manufacturers partly fund some of the current scrappage type deals that were introduced last November for the early 161 sales, they will probably disappear soon and might reappear approaching 162.

I don’t think it makes any difference paying cash, payment in full from a finance company is no different to a draft from a bank, I think it was mentioned here in the past that garages get commission selling the finance, so they might even prefer to sell with finance rather than cash.

I bought a new car recently, the on the road price including delivery, plates and metallic was €24,200. I got a €3,000 trade in allowance for my 15 year old banger, which was immediately passed on to small dealer for €250, so I was paying €21,450 for my new car.

The invoice states I got a discount of €2,750 and €250 trade in allowance.

Identical I year old models are priced higher than the €21,450 that I paid for new, now I accept you will get a discount off the second hand asking price but don’t think it would be anything near the €2,750 that I got off a new car, particularly bearing in mind there would be no manufacturer contribution for a second hand car.

It seems to me that new car prices are inflated both to make your trade in allowance look better and to have a good differential in price between new and second hand.
 
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