Should you wait for the end of the month or a holiday sale? We explore the best time to buy a car in Wichita and how to prioritize your financial readiness over calendar gimmicks.
If you've spent any time researching how to buy a car, you've probably heard some version of this advice:
Wait until the last day of the month.
Or:
Buy on December 31st. Dealerships will practically give the cars away.
Or my personal favorite:
Show up right before closing because they'll do anything to get one more sale.
Please don't do that last one.
So, is there actually a best time to buy a car?
Kind of.
Timing can affect incentives, inventory and your negotiating position. But waiting for some magical day on the calendar isn't nearly as important as people make it sound.
The best time to buy a car is usually when you're financially ready, you've researched the vehicle, and you've found the right combination of price, financing and inventory.
There are situations where timing can help.
For example:
But none of those guarantee that waiting will get you a better deal.
Sometimes waiting saves you money.
Sometimes the car you wanted gets sold while you're waiting for the calendar to perform magic.
This advice isn't completely made up.
Dealerships operate around monthly sales goals, and manufacturers can have their own sales targets and programs.
So yes, there can be situations where selling another vehicle near the end of the month matters.
But here's the part people leave out:
You have no idea where that dealership stands relative to its goals.
Maybe they desperately want five more sales.
Maybe they already crushed their target.
Maybe the particular vehicle you're buying isn't affected by any of it.
Maybe there isn't another dollar available in the deal.
The last day of the month isn't a universal cheat code.
If you find the right vehicle at a price you're comfortable with on the 12th, I wouldn't automatically risk losing it because somebody on TikTok told you dealerships panic on the 31st.
There can be legitimate opportunities toward the end of the calendar year.
Manufacturers may advertise year-end promotions.
Dealers may be working through remaining inventory.
And you may find previous model-year vehicles sitting next to newer versions.
But again, don't assume:
December = massive discount.
It depends heavily on the vehicle.
If there are 70 examples of a particular model sitting around and a redesigned version just arrived, you may have some interesting options.
If you're trying to buy a vehicle that has a waiting list and three people asking about every one that arrives, December doesn't suddenly change supply and demand.
The car matters more than the month.
This is one of the timing situations I'd pay more attention to.
Let's say the 2027 version of a vehicle starts arriving while there are still several new 2026 models available.
The older model year may become more attractive to discount.
Manufacturers may also introduce incentives to help move remaining inventory.
That can create a good opportunity if you don't care about having the newest model year.
But compare the vehicles carefully.
Sometimes the newer model has:
If the 2026 saves you $2,000 but the 2027 has a feature you'd happily pay $2,000 to get, the older vehicle isn't automatically the better deal.
Suppose a completely redesigned version of the vehicle is coming.
Now the previous generation may become less desirable to some shoppers.
That can create opportunities.
But it can also create a decision:
Would you rather save money on the outgoing design or pay more for the new one?
There's no universally correct answer.
If you keep cars for ten years and love the outgoing model, saving money might be fantastic.
If you trade every three years, having the newer generation could potentially matter more to you.
Don't buy the old one just because it has a bigger discount.
Buy it because you actually prefer the total deal.
This is probably the biggest thing I'd watch when buying new.
Manufacturer incentives can include things such as:
Those programs can change.
And a strong incentive can have a much larger financial impact than whether you shop on Tuesday or Saturday.
Imagine one month a vehicle has:
6.9% financing
and the next month there's a promotional:
2.9% APR
If you're financing a substantial amount, that difference could matter a lot more than negotiating another few hundred dollars off the selling price.
But there's a catch.
This happens all the time.
Someone sees an offer and thinks:
"I'll wait until next month. It'll probably get better."
Maybe.
Or it could get worse.
Manufacturer programs have expiration dates for a reason.
The next program might improve.
It might stay similar.
It might disappear.
And the vehicle you're considering may sell before any of that happens.
If you're comfortable with the current offer, don't assume waiting guarantees improvement.
You're making a bet.
Sometimes it pays off.
Sometimes it doesn't.
Let's say you've decided exactly what you want:
A particular model.
Specific trim.
Specific color.
Specific options.
And there are only two within a reasonable distance.
In that situation, waiting for a theoretical future discount might not make much sense.
Now imagine there are 47 nearly identical vehicles available.
Different story.
Supply matters.
When inventory is plentiful, you generally have more choices.
When inventory is limited, the perfect vehicle may be harder to replace.
That's why the "best time" depends partly on how picky you are.
If you'll take any of six colors, you can afford to be patient.
If it has to be the blue one with the tan interior and exactly these three options, your flexibility just disappeared.
Used vehicles make timing even harder.
There is no factory producing another identical three-year-old used car.
Every one is different.
Two examples of the same model can have different:
That's why I'm even less interested in waiting for a particular day when shopping used.
If you find an unusually good used vehicle that checks your boxes and the numbers make sense, waiting two weeks for the "perfect buying day" can easily mean somebody else buys it.
There will be another used car.
There may not be another identical one.
There's an old strategy that says you should shop during terrible weather because dealerships will be empty.
I wouldn't plan my entire purchase around a thunderstorm.
Yes, slower traffic can mean salespeople have more time available.
That doesn't automatically change what the vehicle is worth.
There is also a downside:
Bad weather can make the car harder to inspect.
Rain can hide scratches and cosmetic imperfections.
Snow and ice can make a proper test drive difficult.
If I'm spending tens of thousands of dollars, I'd rather clearly see what I'm buying.
Tuesday?
Wednesday?
Monday morning at exactly 10:17?
I wouldn't worry about it.
Weekdays can be quieter than Saturdays, which may give you more time to look at vehicles, test-drive them and ask questions without as much dealership traffic.
That's a convenience advantage.
It isn't necessarily a price advantage.
If your schedule allows you to shop on a slower weekday, great.
If Saturday is your only free day, go Saturday.
Don't rearrange your life because somebody claims dealerships secretly discount cars on Wednesday afternoons.
There's another side of this people forget.
Maybe waiting gets you another $1,000 discount on the vehicle you're buying.
Great.
But what happens to your trade during that time?
You keep adding miles.
Maybe it needs tires.
Maybe it gets damaged.
Maybe market values change.
Maybe you still owe money on it and continue making payments.
Your trade value isn't frozen while you wait for the new car to get cheaper.
This doesn't mean you should rush.
It means you should evaluate the whole transaction.
If you're financing, the price of the car is only part of your cost.
Your interest rate matters.
A lower purchase price combined with a substantially higher APR isn't automatically a better financial outcome.
If you're delaying a purchase because you're hoping rates will fall, remember that predicting future interest rates isn't particularly easy.
Instead, evaluate what's available today.
Get preapproved if appropriate.
Compare lender options.
Check manufacturer financing programs.
Then decide whether the current numbers work for you.
This is the timing advantage I actually care about.
Buying before you desperately need a car gives you options.
Imagine your current car dies completely on Monday and you need transportation to work by Wednesday.
Your shopping strategy becomes:
I need something now.
That's not ideal.
If you already know your current vehicle is becoming unreliable, your lease is ending, your family is growing or your transportation needs are changing, start researching early.
Give yourself time to:
Being prepared is more useful than knowing the supposedly perfect date to visit a dealership.
Let's say your current car is worth $12,000 and you owe $9,000.
You have:
$3,000 in positive equity.
You decide to wait another year because you're convinced car prices will fall.
A year later, maybe your car is worth $9,000 and you still owe $7,500.
Now you have:
$1,500 in positive equity.
Even if the next vehicle became slightly cheaper, your trade position also changed.
Or maybe you needed $2,000 in repairs during that year.
This is why buying decisions shouldn't be based entirely on predicting the market.
Look at your own situation too.
I'd say you're in a pretty good position to buy when:
That's considerably more important than whether it's the 15th or the 30th.
Waiting can absolutely be the right decision.
I'd consider waiting if:
Sometimes the smartest car-buying move is not buying a car.
That's not very exciting advice.
It's still true.
There is no magical best day to buy a car.
The end of the month can matter.
The end of the year can matter.
Model-year changeovers can matter.
Manufacturer incentives can definitely matter.
But none of those automatically creates a great deal.
The best time to buy is when the right vehicle, the right financial situation and the right overall deal line up.
Don't rush into a bad purchase because somebody says today's the last day of a sale.
And don't walk away from a good purchase because you're hoping the moon, stars and dealership sales calendar will align three weeks from now.
Know what you want.
Know what you can afford.
Understand the numbers.
Then make the decision based on the actual deal in front of you.
If you're thinking about buying soon but aren't sure whether it makes sense to move now or wait, Ask Andrew. Tell me what you're looking at and what's making you hesitate, and I'll help you think through it.
Not necessarily. While some dealerships have monthly sales targets, you cannot know if they are desperate to hit them, so prioritize the deal over the calendar date.
Holiday sales can offer incentives, but they aren't guaranteed to be better than current offers. If you find the right car at a price that fits your budget, it's usually worth moving forward.
Weekdays are often quieter than Saturdays, which may offer you a more relaxed, pressure-free environment to test drive and negotiate, but it rarely impacts the final price.
Bad weather can make dealerships quieter, but it makes inspecting a vehicle for damage or paint issues much harder. It's better to shop when you can see the car clearly.
Andrew Woods
Car salesperson in Wichita, Kansas. I built this resource to help local buyers make confident decisions.