Dealers may make you think there are hot and cold seasons where they see many and few sales, but even though there is a little truth to it, the fact is it rarely affects prices unless the company is going out of business. The best time to buy depends almost exclusively on you and your personal circumstances.

The Rare Occasion When It Doesn’t Depend On You

There are certain things that happen in the car world that do affect the prices of cars in your favour. For example, the two-seater Smart cars were once popular for their 100% safety record, their excellent fuel consumption, and their size that means they are ideal for city driving. However, when the four-seater version came out it became a big success, and dealers were falling over themselves to stock up on them and shift their smaller two-seater versions quickly–so many offered big discounts.

The Economics Of Buying A New Car

The best time to buy depends on you, but there is something you should know first: a new car is a massive waste of money except under two conditions. The first condition is if you sell the car for more than its second-hand value (they call it the blue book value). The second condition is if you take care of the car, keep it for many years, and run it until the end (or near the end) of its life. If you work under either of those conditions, then the economic side is a good reason to buy a new car.

When You Want To Save Money?!?

The two conditions mentioned above will save you money. If you buy a car and take care of it for years, it will save you more than if you changed your car every few years and had to put up with overly frequent repairs. Stretch out the cost of repairs for your new car and it comes to less than the money you pay for repairs when buying a series of second-hand cars over the same period of time.

Buy When Repairing Your Current Car Will Cost More Than The Finance Payments

Do the maths and figure out if you are saving more by buying a car, even with a loan or on finance, over keeping your current car. If your current car is costing you an average of £350 per year, you can probably find a finance deal with interest lower than £350 per year; ergo you make a saving and get a new car too.