How to Time Your Purchase to Maximize Savings
Most car manufacturers are publicly traded which means they have to report sales and earnings each year. These companies, along with the analysts that follow them, set yearly targets called sales and earnings estimates. If a company misses these targets, they can see their stock price drop quickly.
If a manufacturer is not on track to hit their target by year-end, they may increase incentives to get some last minute sales. This is one of the reasons why the end of the year is a great time to buy a new car. Both manufacturers and dealers are trying to hit their yearly goals.
But some manufacturers don't follow the calendar year to determine their financials. Most Japanese manufacturers have a fiscal year ending on March 31st. You may see some especially large incentives during the month of March for these brands - and now you know why.
If you're an expert at timing your purchase, you'll want to wait until March for import brands and end of the year for domestic and other brands. Here's a list of manufacturers along with their fiscal year end:
Brand | Fiscal Year End |
Acura | March 31st |
Honda | March 31st |
Infiniti | March 31st |
Lexus | March 31st |
Jaguar | March 31st |
Mitsubishi | March 31st |
Nissan | March 31st |
Toyota | March 31st |
Mitsubishi | March 31st |
BMW | December 31st |
Mercedes | December 31st |
Volkswagen | December 31st |
GM | December 31st |
Ford | December 31st |
Volvo | December 31st |
3 Steps Every Car Buyer Needs to Take to Save Maximum Money
The key to getting the best deal is to gather price or lease bids from as many local dealers as possible. Then shop that best price around until no one can beat it. Here are the steps:Step 1 Get Prices From My Trusted Network
Select the vehicle you're interested in to see if there are local dealers in my network who will provide you with their best upfront price. You will get direct access to an internet sales manager who you can further negotiate with online (no need to visit dealership).Step 2 Get Prices From TrueCar / CarsDirect
TrueCar, and CarsDirect are my top 2 online price quote recommendations. These services show you pre-negotiated prices from dealers closest to you - and the deals are usually pretty decent. But remember, you can still negotiate further.Step 3 Complete my Checklist
Follow this up with my checklist to make sure you squeeze out every last bit of savings.- Gregg Fidan

Each week, I'll keep you up-to-date on the latest car deals and news that might affect your purchase. This includes...
- Best Rebates, Incentives, and Lease Deals
- Latest Car Buying Scams and Tricks
- The Best & Worst Time to Buy a Car
- Which Cars You Should Avoid
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