It comes as no surprise that all aspects of daily life are a lot different now than they were before the pandemic began, and that includes car-buying — something many Americans are doing right now. The end of year is historically one of the besttimes of year to buy a new vehicle [truecar.com], as dealers are clearing out last year’s model year and remaining inventory for the new model year vehicles. Luxury vehicles in particular tend to have especially good deals. The pandemic did cause some production stoppages in the spring that affected inventory availability and created some scarcity around popular models. We’re starting to see inventory recover and balance out which could point to automakers providing more incentives going into the peak end-of-year buying season. How can consumers who are in the market to buy a car get the best deals at the end of 2020 and into early 2021?
GET A VALUATION ON YOUR CURRENT VEHICLE:This will inform what you have to put toward your next car and what you can afford. If you plan to sell your car on your own, you should plan for much more lead time to schedule appointments, answer questions about the vehicle condition, do remote videos, meet with prospective customers, handle the paperwork and questions etc.
- NARROW DOWN YOUR VEHICLE CONSIDERATION SET:There’s a wealth of information online about different vehicles. Do you want to buy new or used, Certified Pre-Owned? Use respected sites likeConsumer Reports, U.S. News, CNET, Autoblog and others.
- LOAN, LEASE OR CASH?Play around with payment options online. You can see what your payment would be on a loan or lease on a new car, based on what retailer partners are actually offering on a particular vehicle.
- KNOW YOUR OPTIONS FOR NAVIGATING COVID-19:Everyone has a different comfort level as it relates to the pandemic. Most dealerships today have pivoted to digital and remote solutions to help consumers to do more of the retail experience online or without having to step foot in the dealership.
