Until the last few years, the best way to get a great car deal was … to work hard for it by haggling with stubborn dealer salespeople. With plenty of luck, careful preparation, and a heap of negotiating skill, you might get a good deal.
You would increase your chances of getting a good deal if you knew the best time of day/month/year to buy, knew dealer invoice prices and holdbacks, and had good bargaining savvy— and possessed the stamina for long stressful haggling sessions with dealer salespeople who would try every trick in the book to wear you down — not a pleasant experience for many people. Most people hate it and don’t look forward to it.
It’s not that haggling still isn’t necessary. It is in many cases. But the best car deals don’t happen that way anymore. Things have changed. The best deals are actually given to you — without haggling — by major car companies in partnership with their dealers.
Car manufacturers, in these challenging economic times, are hungry for your business and are willing to offer ready-made deals that were offered much less frequently in the past. These are deals that buyers could not possibly negotiate for themselves — because dealers are not capable of making the kind of concessions that their deep-pockets parent car companies can make. You could haggle with a car dealer all day and all night and he still wouldn’t be able to give you large price discounts, rebates, bonuses, 0% APR loans, or give you special subsidized leases, if he didn’t have help from his parent car company.
Car manufacturers announce new incentive programs almost every month. These are special limited-time deals — usually good for only one months — in the form of customer rebates, low-interest loans, 0% APR loans, zero money down deals, special leases, “loyalty” bonuses, “conquest” bonuses, military bonuses, and “hidden” factory-to-dealer cash. The deals are usually limited to certain selected models and styles in any given month. And there may be restrictions, credit requirements, or down payments needed to qualify.
These monthly promotional deals from car companies are nearly always genuinely good deals — often great deals — and well worth customers’ consideration. The “catch” is that the customer must act within the time limit specified.
Some of the best incentives are on “leftover” vehicles of last year’s models. So as 2016 vehicles are made available, there are great deals on the 2015 versions of those same vehicles.
These can be outstanding deals because models usually change very little from year to year, and since the leftovers are still brand new, they come with full warranties and lemon law protection. Many also come with free routine maintenance and roadside assistance.
All car companies don’t offer incentives. Some luxury brands never offer advertised incentives which might brand them as a “discounter.” Some have hidden incentives that aren’t made public but are offered to potential customers in the store. Others may offer special lease deals and “bonuses”, but never rebates or discounts.
In summary, the best car deals are the promotional incentives that are offered each month by car manufacturers. These deals require no negotiation and no stressful haggling.
You can get free new-car price guarantees from TrueCar and Edmunds
that will automatically include any promotional incentives and dealer-provided discounts that are currently available at new-car dealers in the area of your ZIP code.
Customers should be aware that some car deal incentives such as low loan interest rates and special lease deals may require a good credit score to qualify. It’s always a good idea to know your most recent credit score before going to discuss car deals with a dealer. What’s your FICO score? Find out now when you check your credit report for $1 at Experian.com!
We tell you about the best new car deals every month here on this web site, Best Car Deals. Please stay tuned.
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