Seasonal Trends in Car Buying

How Important Are Seasonal Trends in the Automotive Sector?

KEY TAKEAWAYS

The automotive industry experiences seasonal trends, with peak demand occurring during spring and fall.

In the United States, car dealers experience the most difficulty in selling inventory during the winter months, particularly in January, February, and into early March.

As the weather improves and people receive their tax refunds, car sales increase during the spring months.

Demand often increases in the fall months when some manufacturers release their new car models for the coming year.

Historically, December has been a slow sales month for the U.S. auto industry; however, starting in 2013 and continuing through 2019, December sales have improved as car dealers have offered better deals and discounts to clear their inventory before the end of the year

Wish I could wait but I will probably buy in the next few weeks.

Kool Toyota Grand Rapids

TBH I communicated with that dealer and didn't like their attitude and pricing. First asked for pricing, they gave me way above everyone else, when I called them out for this they found $2000 off the same day for a "holiday" special, then became rude when I tried to negotiate...I mean you are a car dealership, expect people to negotiate. The whole interaction was negative with them and I appreciated other dealers who were honest, straight forward, and polite.

I think it’s luck of the draw, in terms of finding the right salesperson. I can PM details but the salesperson I’ve been working with has shown they are interested in working with me, actually answering my questions and asking non-sales-y questions. I’m definitely not loyal to them but that’s who I found to stand out, and it was all down to who ended up contacting me. I actually talked to their manager a couple times and he came off pretty unlikeable, so I definitely get what you’re saying.

Also, Kool was one of the dealers I reached out to. I think they didn’t have anything that had what I was looking for on it, but I would’ve jumped on the one you got had they offered that price

Which dealer in AZ?

Think it was Riverview Toyota. It's been a while but I'm pretty sure it was that one.

RWD, Silver/Black, running boards, 3rd row seats (7 passenger), JBL, outdoor mats all around, cargo liner, roof rails, mudguards, door edge guards, paint protection film, premium audio, hitch ball mount, OTD $49,105
1.99 60 months Capital One; Toyota of Cool Springs, Franklin, TN (Nashville)
Flew from New Orleans and drove it back. Decent overall experience. I know their warped car sales psychology and I’m not easy to deal with. Not rude but I’ll walk out at any point.
I feel bad at how dealerships literally screw the uninformed, older people, and anyone they can.
And by the way I sold my Honda Pilot to CarMax rather than trade or sell myself (way too much risk today) and got $2000 better deal.

prices definitely seem to be trending up this last month. I'm on the hunt for an ORP without a moonroof in the PNW and so far my local dealers are saying they can't budge off MSRP right now. The dealer I talked to today was unwilling to go below MSRP ($44k) and they had quite a few ORPs on the lot for $41,xxx back in February.

Paid MSRP at Salinas Toyota (Ca) today for a '21 Lunar Rock. (Plus TTL and a $85 doc fee - super cheap!!)

4 miles were on her. <3

Seeing the same in MI/Midwest, unfortunately.

Paid $41,750 for my ORP with KDSS and Moonroof, after WA TTL it's ~46K OTD. Had to wait for it to be built, but I locked in my deal early March and dealer did not jack up pricing or sell it to another customer.

Mind sharing where? Its like pulling teeth to get WA dealers to even give a 5% discount let alone the 9% you got.

Then they're trying to lowball my trade-in tacoma for 32k, when they're gonna put it on their lots for 42k.

i personally called about 20 dealers throughout the southeast. AL, GA, NC, SC. They all basically laughed when i asked what deals there were. They said the deal is finding one!! LOL, so i paid sticker.

They honored my price, but the sales manager mentioned this deal wouldn't be replicated in the current market. Try Costco, Toyota of Puyallup was giving me $100 under invoice. For MSRP of $45,955, they would sell to me at $43,169 before TTL. This was early March. They seemed willing to honor that price for a custom order as well.