New Car Buyer's Guide, Part I: Timing Is Everything

So, you want to buy a new car? Great! Taking delivery of a new car — one that looks, sounds and smells factory fresh — is an exciting experience for most people.

Unfortunately, the process of buying a new car has many pitfalls, any one of which can cost you dearly. In the worst case scenario, you could even end up hating your new car (and yourself for having bought it).

There are many complex factors to bear in mind when contemplating a new car purchase: such matters as knowing when to buy a new car, knowing how to select the proper model, how to choose the right equipment for it, how to find the best dealer, how to negotiate the lowest price, and, not least, how to pay for it all.

This series is intended as sort of a guerrilla guide for the novice new car buyer, but even experienced car buyers who have been through the mill a few times will find worthwhile information and tips.

This introductory installment in the series is about timing. Timing, as the old saying goes, is everything and never was this more true than in the purchase of a new car.

Is your old car worn out and costing a lot to keep in repair? If you think it will be cheaper to get rid of it and buy a new one, it may come as a surprise (perhaps even a disappointment) to learn that keeping and repairing the old buggy will probably be cheaper. Several hundred dollars spent on repairs of an old car (which, depending on the year and model, might actually appreciate in value) is much less than the many thousands of dollars spent on a new car which will rapidly depreciate.

In most cases, even if your car is fifteen or twenty years old, parts are still available through dealers or auto parts stores. If your car is older than that, you can still find used parts in wrecking yards and at old car flea markets throughout the country. If you can't do the repair work yourself (or don't want to), there are many people who know how to repair the older cars better than today's new high-tech vehicles. In most cases, it is neither a great problem nor a terrible expense to keep an old car running, and there are many enthusiasts who use cars that are forty years old or more as daily "drivers" with minimal hassles.

There is a psychology in the land that persuades most people that new is better than old(and not just with cars). Yet, commercial vehicle users (taxi companies and trucking firms, for example) regularly keep their cars and trucks in service for hundreds of thousands of miles before they even think about replacement. They do this by adhering to a rigorous maintenance program. There is no earthly reason why an ordinary car owner couldn't do the same thing and keep a car going more-or-less forever — and save considerable money over the long haul by doing so. The rub is that most car owners don't place much emphasis on vehicle maintenance and the cars suffer accordingly.

So, fixing up your old car may not be desirable, especially if you are one of the great masses of owners who take a casual approach to maintenance. Or, you may simply want a new car for purely personal reasons, and there is nothing wrong with that.

When is the best time to think about trading for a new car? Most new cars are designed to go 50,000-60,000 miles without major repairs. In fact, some new car warranties will cover the important operating systems almost that long. Today's cars are better built than they were even fifteen or twenty years ago and so will last longer, even with minimal maintenance. Still, it is a good rule of thumb to assume that after 50,000 miles the rate of repairs is going to increase significantly. If you are going to trade, you should certainly being thinking about it when your odometer passes the half-century mark.

Yes, the month you choose can make a big difference! Common wisdom used to hold that spring was the best time to trade. The idea was to avoid buying a new car until the harsh winter driving season was over. ("No sense in buying a new car just to drive it through salt for six months, etc.") Of course, this doesn't apply in parts of the world where the winters are mild. In North America, at least, spring is probably the busiest time for car dealers, but the busiest time is not necessarily the best time to buy.

Many people used to contend that the best time to buy was in the fall when the new models were introduced. Dealers were anxious to get the new models out on the road quickly, and so were eager to sell to people who did a lot of traveling and whose new cars would be seen. At least, that was the theory. The problem today is that the fall new model announcement "season" isn't what it used to be. The manufacturers no longer introduce their new models in lock-step. In fact, new models are introduced throughout the year nowadays.

Another problem with trying to be the first on your block with a new model is that there is a higher risk of problems in design, manufacture and assembly if there have been many changes made to the newly introduced models. It may take some time for them to be diagnosed and corrected and the result can be a lot of annoyance, inconvenience and frustration to the owner of a brand new model.

In addition, new model introduction time is the time when the dealer is least likely to give substantial discounts. This applies to any new model regardless of when during the year it is introduced to the public. The law of supply and demand means that because his stock is low and demand is high the dealer can get a higher price — the suggested retail price or even more, in some cases when a new model is hot. You may enjoy the prestige of driving the latest model car and being the envy of your neighborhood, but that is a fleeting benefit and there may be a heavy price to pay for it.

Buying last year's leftover at a reduced price when the new models arrive can be a saving. The saving, however, can only be retained if you trade next time on a similar previous-year's leftover. To a lesser extent, the lower price of a leftover model will result in a saving if you keep your car for five years or longer until its depreciation is negligible on a year-to-year basis. But, are you sure you will want to keep the car that long?

Most experts suggest January, February and March as the best months to buy a new car. This is after the Christmas retail season, when people have already spent a lot money and many of them are tapped out. Car sales are traditionally weak in the winter months. Also, winter weather is not the most pleasant time for getting out and doing car shopping and that restrains buyer, too. So, dealers are the anxious to do business during these months. Furthermore, if you have a trade-in, you might find that the dealer is interested in building up his stock of used cars for the approaching spring selling season. Overall, then, the early months of the calendar year are probably the best months to buy a new car.

Of course, due to circumstances beyond your control — transmission failure on the freeway, for example — you may find yourself in the market for a new car at some other point during the year not of your own choosing. Even if that is the case, don't skip the rest of this chapter, for there is more to the timing of a new car purchase than picking the most advantageous months.

Whether you choose to deal in the winter or any other season, what day is best? Near the end of the month, dealers are often anxious to meet their monthly quotas from the manufacturers. For this reason, shopping during the final days of the month can get you a surprisingly good deal from a dealer who needs just a few more sales to meet that quota.

After deciding on the month and the day to buy a new car, what is the best hour? Does it really matter? It can.

When you intend to do business, drop in an hour or so before closing time. The urgencies just mentioned still apply, in addition to short term pressure. The sales staff is anxious to close up and get home. If they see the chance to make a last minute sale for the day, they are not going to waste time coming to terms with you.

In short, timing is very important in shopping for a new car. It can be the key to unlocking a very good deal. Before you close the deal, however, you need to determine what kind of car you want to buy. For tips on how to do that, check out Part II. R&D