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by LeeAnn Shattuck Te Best Time to Buy a Car


as there are fleas on a stray dog. Some people think that rainy days will deter car shoppers from trudging through lots, and make dealers more desperate to make a sale.


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On the other hand, if you are slopping around in the rain, the salesman may think that you are desperate for a car and push for a higher price! Many highline dealers (BMW, Mercedes, Porsche, etc.) insist that rainy days are great sales days because their custom- ers would rather spend the warm, sunny ones on the golf course instead of in their showroom. At any rate, I wouldn’t recommend making a major financial decision based solely on the weather report.


Weekdays are typically better for car shopping, since most people peruse the lots on the weekends. Car deal-


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common question I hear is, “When is the best time to buy a car?” There are as many theories on this topic


ers refer to weekends as the “tuna run” — there are so many customers on the lot, they just pull them into the net. It’s harder to demand a low price when the salesman can simply turn to the next customer in line. You stand a better chance during the week, when there are fewer fish in the sea.


An even better time to shop is the end of the month or quarter when deal- ers are trying to make their quotas. The number of cars a dealer sells each month determines the number of cars he can get from the manufacturer next month. It also affects the types of cars he gets (models and colors that are selling well vs. ones that are not) as well as marketing support dollars. If a dealer is falling short of a quota for the month, he may forgo a profit on the car just to make his numbers.


The end of the model year and the end of the calendar year are often good times to buy. Dealers need to clear out the previous model year


negotiations


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