Why August looks like the best month to buy a new car

For most of the world, 2014 does not end until December 31. But in the automotive world, it’s as good as done. The long-held tradition of carmakers starting to deliver updated, next-model-year cars and trucks en masse to their showrooms starting around September means that dealers will automatically get more aggressive in summer months, but according to John Krafcik of TrueCar, brands have started selling 2015 models even earlier than usual, making this August the month during which you’re bound to score the best deal on a new car.

A month-by-month breakdown of new car and truck prices during the last five years, as provided by TrueCar.com is striking, revealing August as the month with the lowest average transaction price for a new car at $29,296, with July coming in second at $29,465. But then, in September, average transaction prices jump by nearly $1,100 and continue to rise another $757 by December, to $31,146. March and May are also a good months to buy, with average transaction prices within just $72 of July’s.

“This is a great example of the power of data, which shows dealers are clearing out older inventory in August,” says TrueCar founder and CEO Scott Painter. 

The TrueCar data also debunks the myth that waiting until the end of the month will get you the best deal; in fact, the first few days of the beginning of the month, which are typically slow in terms of showroom traffic, have buyers saving an average of $390 compared to the average. The data also shows the best day of the week to buy a car (Sunday) and the worst (Friday), as well as the best months to buy certain types of vehicles. If you’re shopping for mid-size of large car, for example, you’ll get your best deal in May or June; those in the market for a hot exotic should wait until the cold month of January in order to save a whopping $13,190 on the average—that’ll buy a lot of gas when the weather clears up.

“Consumer buying trends have been turned upside down during the past decade due to the emergence of big data,” says Painter. “New car buyers are better educated because transparent pricing information is readily available at sites like Truecar.com. And price-confident consumers create a better buying experience for themselves and car dealers.”

Being August, then, there are plenty of fire-sale specials on current model year cars. While the particulars of the deals vary from place to place, the Top 10 New Car Deals, according to the folks at Kelley Blue Book (kbb.com) are:

All deals expire 9/2/14

There’s a lot of fine print to sift through on each of these deals, of course. It’s also worth noting that the 2014 Toyota Camry, Cadillac ATS sedan, and Ford Expedition models are being replaced by freshened versions for 2015, while the Chevy Cruze and Mazda CX-7 are scheduled for replacement sometime next year. And the 2014 Cadillac CTS Coupe has just been supplanted by the smaller (and better) 2015 ATS Coupe, and thus, it won’t be replaced at all.

Besides the above deals, there are bound to be many more at your local dealership. Becuase, after all, it’s still August.