Which Leftover Models Should You Buy?

It's that time of year when many car shoppers need to decide between buying the latest 2013 model or opting for the leftover 2012 model. The advantage to buying leftovers are the steep discounts. But there's an art to buying a leftover model.

If you wait too long, there may not be any remaining with the colors or options you desire - or worse, there may not be any left at all. If you buy too soon, you won't maximize savings, since dealers aren't as desperate to sell. The time of year also matters. If the leftover models dwindle down well before the end of the year, there's less pressure on dealers to sell, since they know they won't have much trouble selling the remaining ones.

This week, I gathered data to show you which leftover models currently have the best potential for steep discounts while also having enough remaining inventory to choose from. I gathered data from nationwide classified listings, and calculated how many days inventory each model had remaining based on last month's sales figures along with the ratio of remaining 2012 models. (There's a bit of guesswork here, so consider these numbers ball-park figures)

To see what kind of deals are available on these leftovers, use the RydeShopper.

According to the numbers above, the 2012 Chevrolet Malibu has 96 days worth of inventory remaining, the highest of the bunch, while the 2012 Lexus ES 350 has only 18 days remaining. These figures are based off of last month's sales figures. Keep in mind this doesn't mean it will take exactly 96 days for the leftover Malibus to run out. Typically, as leftover models dwindle, it becomes harder to sell off the remaining batch due to unpopular color and option choices, so you can expect that some leftovers will still be available well into 2013.