The holiday season offers more deals than typically seen

The holiday shopping season is marked by deep discounts, and a new study by iSeeCars.com shows that the used car market is no exception with December being among the top months to purchase a pre-owned vehicle.

Automotive data and research company iSeeCars.com analyzed over 48 million used cars sold from January 2013 through December 2016, comparing months of the year and holidays to determine which times of the year offered more deals than consumers would find on the average day. A deal was defined as a car with savings of at least five percent. “Cars are one of the most expensive purchases families make, and savings of even five percent can mean $950 off the average used car price of $18,992,” said Phong Ly, CEO of iSeeCars.com. “We assessed which holidays and which months had the most deals in order to identify when consumers had the best chances of finding these savings.”

Months of the Year

December is an advantageous time to buy a used car with Christmas Eve and Christmas Day accounting for two of the top five holidays with the most deals. During this month consumers see 38.2 percent more deals than an average day, making it the second-best month to buy a used car behind November by a slim margin (November has 38.4 percent more deals than average). Rounding up the top months are January (19.9 percent), October (16.7 percent), and February (4.8 percent). The worst months to buy span March through August, topped by May which has 28.3 percent fewer deals than average. Two of the worst holidays for deals—Memorial Day and Mother's Day—occur in May, contributing to its low ranking.

Best Months to Buy a Used Car

Worst Months to Buy a Used Car

Holidays

The best holidays to buy a used car are those towards the end of the calendar year. Veteran's Day is the holiday with the most deals (43.2 percent more than average), followed by Black Friday (37.5 percent) and Christmas Eve (35.6 percent). “Dealers are trying to meet their annual goals in November and December, and are more likely to lower their profit margins in order to do so,” explained Ly. “Fortunately, those who miss the main holiday shopping rush get additional opportunities to take advantage of sales surrounding New Year’s Day and on Martin Luther King Day.”

Top 10 Best Holidays to Buy a Used Car

The worst holidays to buy a used car fall in late spring and the summer months, which include Memorial Day and the 4th of July. “People associate car sales with these holidays, but typically dealers see more demand and less of a need to increase sales via discounts around this time of year,” Ly explained. “When the new model year begins around August or September, more used cars become available on the used car market as consumers trade in their older cars, driving down prices.”

Worst Holidays to Buy a Used Car

Consumers looking to celebrate the holiday season by buying a car could be in a great position to save money. Ly said, “Even as more and more used cars come off-lease this year, knowing the right times to shop for a used car can prove beneficial to consumers' wallets.

Methodology

iSeeCars.com analyzed over 48 million one- to five-year-old used car sales from January 1, 2013 through December 31, 2016. Deals were identified based on whether the car was listed at five percent or more below market value. The total number of listings and number of deals were aggregated nationally by month, day of the week, as well as specific holidays. At each aggregated timescale, the number of deals were divided by the number of cars sold, resulting in a probability of finding a deal. These probabilities were expressed as a percentage difference from the overall probability of finding a deal on an average day (22.2%).

About iSeeCars.com

iSeeCars.com is a data-driven car search and research company that helps shoppers find the best car deals by providing key insights and valuable resources, including the iSeeCars VIN Check report and Best Cars Rankings. iSeeCars has saved users over $406 million so far by applying big data analytics powered by over 25 billion (and growing) data points and using proprietary algorithms to objectively analyze, score and rank millions of new cars and used cars.