| TIMING YOUR
CAR PURCHASE
Author: LaChelle Neudorfer
Now
is the time to start thinking about your next car purchase. September is when
the new model year cars are being dropped at the dealerships and are ready for
sale. These are NOT the cars, however, that you should be buying! If you are going
to buy a new car, your best bet is to buy the current year's car LATE in the year.
This is the time when dealerships are going to be slashing prices and the factories
will be offering higher rebates. Merchandising is the name of the game. Out with
the old and in with the new.
Money talks and you should be listening.
The 2008 you are looking at sitting next to next year's 2009 is just as new! In
fact it is better because it is cheaper and you have saved a year of miles. The
sad souls who buy the 2009 now will pay top dollar and will start racking up the
miles immediately.
Even better than not buying next year's model is to
buy used. This is the time of year when used cars start making downward price
shifts. As soon as the new model's drop, so do the prices of the older cars.
Not only does the release of the new models help lower the price of the used
car market, but increased rebates and employee pricing does as well. If you are
on the buying end, you are happy. If you are on the selling end, you are groaning.
The decrease of new car sales prices has a direct effect on used cars.
In order to keep used cars attractive to consumers, the price has to be right.
That is after all why we buy used. So, when the new car market is lowering pricing,
so must the used cars. This is a tremendous benefit to buyers.
So, you
may not be in the market for a new car, but pay attention to those ads because
they have a direct affect on your used car purchase as well as the selling price
of the car you are trading in.
Right now the SUV market is being greatly
affected by the rising fuel costs. Now may not be the time to jump into a gas-guzzler,
but don't count them out all together. If you already own one, this could be bad
news for you because along with their demand, their price has dropped dramatically.
If and when we pull out of this gas crisis we are facing and you are still in
the market for an SUV, then go for it! You will be a happy camper at the low prices
you will find.
The prices have already dropped and dealers are going
to be sitting on the inventory they have for awhile. They are also not looking
to buy any more right now, so now is NOT the time to trade yours in. Even when
the demand goes back up, dealers will be sitting on large and aged inventories
so the dealers will be ready to cut their inventories loose at a loss.
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