Don't buy a car until you read this
New research shows the best time to make a purchase — and the best vehicle. But should you even bother?
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Do not — repeat, do not — buy a car now. Wait until Christmas Eve to start shopping for a new ride. Better yet, hold off until Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Jan. 18.
That's the takeaway from new research by iSeeCars.com.
But there's more, and you won't see it reported anywhere else. iSeeCars.com also compiled a list of the most-discounted used cars for me.
I'll share it with you exclusively in a second, along with some irreverent car-buying advice that might make your head explode. You've been warned.
Best times to buy a car
Here's the best time to buy a used car, according to iSeeCars.com. The percentages represent more deals than average:
Martin Luther King Jr. Day (39 percent)
January (29 percent)
February (22 percent)
New Year's Eve/New Year's Day (20 percent)
Christmas Eve (18 percent)
Note: Never buy a new car. The vehicle loses about 10 percent of its value the moment you drive it off the lot.
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These are the best used cars to buy
Here are the best used cars to buy, according to the research. (The average discount and percentage are in parentheses.)
Mercedes-Benz Class ($2,622; 9 percent)
Volkswagen Passat ($1,487; 9 percent)
Toyota Sienna ($2,300; 8.9 percent)
Nissan Versa ($967; 8.8 percent)
BMW 3 Series ($2,252; 8.5 percent)
To come up with this list, iSeeCars.com compiled sales data from 2018 to 2020 for one- to five-year-old used cars. The average percent discount — the difference between the listed price and fair market value — was mathematically modeled for each vehicle listed below fair market value.
Here's a full list of the 30 most-discounted cars (subscribers only).
What to do with this list
"Over the next few weeks, we're going to see a lot of 'YEAR END SPECIALS! BUY NOW!'," according to Karl Brauer, iSeeCars executive analyst. "But if you can hold off until after the start of 2021, you'll see better pricing as dealers face the post-holiday car-buying doldrums."
In other words: If you're in the market for a car, wait a few weeks. January and February are ideal times to buy a used vehicle. And by the way, weekdays are slightly better than weekends.
Then again ...
Why buy a car at all? It's been such a strange year, with most of us confined to our homes and apartments, that many of us have started to question the viability of owning a vehicle. With so many new transportation options, is it necessary to have a car?
If you think about that really hard, you might come to the same conclusion I did. For me, it's better to subscribe to a car like a Volvo than to own one. Or just rely on Uber, mass transit and rentals. Ownership is unnecessary and obsolete for many people.
And it's not just cars. You can buy a subscription to a phone, a computer, and almost anything else you can think of, like razors and musical instruments.
I haven't owned a home in years; I rent furnished places by the month.
When I was growing up, the American dream was ownership. Success meant having your own car and home. Everything in your home belonged to you.
Now, I own almost nothing. Only the clothes in my carry-on bag are mine. My next phone will be a subscription, and so will my laptop computer. The pandemic has changed the American dream.
Ownership isn’t freedom. Non-ownership is.
It will probably take a generation for people to accept that, but I think it will happen.
I'd love to get your thoughts. Do you believe subscriptions are a fad — or are they the future? Why or why not? Speaking of subscriptions, please don't forget to subscribe to this newsletter to get all the exclusive data. You don't want to miss it.
PS: Please join me tomorrow at 2 p.m. ET for a live travel chat at the Washington Post online. You can submit your questions now.
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Well, I am with Carlos. I am a single female that used to commute 2+ hours EACH way to work. I need reliability. And no longer a spring chicken. Purchase a new vehicle about every 10 years or 500,000 miles. Still have my 2005 Honda Civic along with my 2014 CRV. To me it is worth it for a virtually trouble free vehicle. Being an educated female helps, but there are so many unscrupulous car sales people as well as mechanics (including the dealers), here in LA County it can make your head spin. And since I do drive through some questionable areas at night, my life is worth more than a few dollars. However, for someone that drives significantly less than I do, you make an excellent point. Just depends upon what type of vehicle is needed and for what purpose. My in-laws used to purchase used cars from car rental agencies. They seemed to always have good luck with them. Always something to consider if in the market for a used car with some sort of warranty.
Different world today then the 70’s when the prime rate was 14%. My $78,000 home had only a 9% mortgage on it. I impress on my kids now, each time the rates go down to refinance. They both have 3% rates and put the money saved right back towards principle. Buying a home was usually the only way people “saved”.
Chris, if you own nothing, you better have one heck of a portfolio.
We’ve been able to balance all of that and no longer live in the mass humanity but on 5 acres in the north woods. My 3% mortgage will be paid off in 3 years.
My vehicles are a ‘05 Toyota Avalon that we tow behind our class A gas Rv. ( not stuck in one place, room to explore) A ‘05 sc430 Lexus convertible we bought new and use to have the freedom with the top down and a 2016 Honda Odyssey ( my third) a keeper after paying off at 0% interest.
We now spend the winters, January-March in Florida and we’re going to sell our northern home to move there but the quality of what you get in Florida is so low vs what we have, we just couldn’t do it. That after exploring all of Florida in the winter of 2019. North, panhandle, south, ft, Myers down, and central, east.
My sister in law owns a two bedroom condo off siesta key and pays $750 a month in hoa fees. Such a waste.
Enjoy life, invest well on your own ( don’t give away your money to brokers who don’t care if you make money or not, they get it either way, as I’ve told my friends treading water in downturns.)