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Here are the 10 best and worst times to buy a used car

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Updated  December 18, 2024 6:00pm EST
Cars and Trucks
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FILE-Used cars for sale at a dealership in Colma, California on Friday, June 21, 2024. (David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

The Brief

    • The best times to purchase a used car are New Year's Eve, New Year's Day, and Martin Luther King Day.
    • Consumers should avoid shopping for cars on Father’s Day and Fourth of July.
    • The time to shop for cars was based on a ranking looking at used car sales over the past year.

When it comes to purchasing a car, there are many factors consumers consider before heading to the dealership, and one of those is timing. 

In a new study by iSeeCars, the online automotive search website, made a list breaking down the best and worst times of the year to get a deal on a used car. 

The online automotive search website collected data for its report by analyzing over 39 million used car sales from 2023 and 2024 and calculated the chances of finding a deal on various days and months of the year and compared them to the annual average of 33%.

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To determine the best times for consumers to purchase used cars, iSee Cars evaluated which holidays and months offer a lot of bargains on used cars based on the average percentage of finding a deal during the year. 

 Moreover, the study found that the worst times to buy used cars start in April when there are fewer deals available, and bargains are even more limited through June, which is the worst month for used car deals, with a little over 30% fewer deals than the average. 

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And holidays falling around these months also offer fewer deals than average, with Father’s Day having 33% fewer deals than average and being the worst time of year for used car shoppers to find deals. Other holidays when it’s harder to find deals are the Fourth of July, Memorial Day, and Mother’s Day.

10 best times to buy a used car

  1. New Year's Eve and New Year's Day
  2. Martin Luther King Day
  3. January
  4. Presidents’ Day
  5. Christmas Eve
  6. December
  7. February
  8. Thanksgiving/Black Friday
  9. Veterans Day
  10. November

10 worst times to buy a used car

  1. Father’s Day
  2. Fourth of July
  3. June
  4. Juneteenth
  5. Memorial Day
  6. May
  7. Mother’s Day
  8. July
  9. April
  10. August

The study also ranked the best and worst months to buy a used car revealing that January is the best month and June is the worst. The trend then improves beginning in July through the end of the year.

The Brief

  • Information for this story was provided by an iSeecars study that collected data for its report by evaluating more than 39 million used car sales from 2023 and 2024, and calculated the chances of finding a deal on various days and months of the year by comparing them to the annual average.  This story was reported from Washington, D.C.


 

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