December 26, 2012 - If you read our blog regularly, you are well aware that Christmas drives up car sales. Husbands and wives, parents and children, all want to give their loved ones that dream gift—the iconic car with a red bow parked in a snowy driveway. What they don’t tell you in those car commercials, is that if you wait just one more day you can actually get a killer deal on a new car. The week after Christmas is a huge time for car dealerships because not only it is the last week of the month, it’s the last week of the year! That means sales people are willing to cut deals in order to hit their sales goals and get end of the year bonuses.
Car dealerships know their customers and marketing studies show that consumers have more free time to shop during the week after Christmas. A lot of people have the entire week off and don’t have to do their car shopping with just a few spare hours on the weekend. Because consumers can take their time, that means they can visit multiple dealerships before they decide to buy. Salespeople are trained to know this, so they will do whatever it takes to keep you from leaving their lot. If you do your research ahead of time and research pricing and availability you can leverage the situation to your advantage.
Don’t be too choosy though! Salespeople are trying to cut deals, so if you walk away from your dream car because you think you can get a better price you have to understand that it might be gone the very next day.
Here is a great tip for saving yourself a little extra money when shopping for a car: As you know, social media and online review sites have become important aspect of every business. Leverage the fact that you have the power, as a consumer, to post both positive and negative reviews on these sites. Ask for a little extra off their “lowest price”, but tell the salesperson that you are willing to go online and leave the dealership a positive review. That type of good publicity is valuable to any dealership and could be the ticket to the price you want to pay. Give it a shot and see what happens. Good luck!
