All The Advantages And Disadvantages Of Buying A New Car At The End Of A Calendar Year

It’s often said that a car is the second-most significant investment a person makes in their life. The first being, of course, buying a new home. Given the value a vehicle holds for people, it’s only natural for many to check for the right occasion while buying it. While Diwali and other festive periods are among the top picks for when to get a new car home, one of the most debated topics of discussion is whether to buy it at the tail end of a year. In this story, we thought of taking a look at its the pros and cons, starting with the pros:

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Big Discounts

Probably the biggest reason why people opt for a new car towards the end of a calendar year is to grab huge savings. With carmakers rushing to clear the existing year’s inventory to make way for the new lot coming at the onset of the new year, there’s high chances of carmakers and/or dealers offering heavy deals on the current batch – for when the next year’s vehicles arrive, most consumers tend to pick that instead of the previous, for a reason we’ll go into below. The huge savings also give buyers a chance to pick a higher variant of the preferred car or even better, to get a model from a segment above depending on the discounts offered from the brand.

Beat Price Hikes And Wait Times

Car manufacturers often implement price hikes at the beginning of a new year due to various factors such as inflation, increased production costs, or improvements in newer models. Buying at the end of the year allows you to avoid these potential price increases and chances are, some might even offer you price protection as well. If you pick a new car in the last few days of a calendar year, chances are that you will also be able to beat the long wait times that accompany models in the upcoming year.

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Additional Benefits

Another advantage of buying a car at the end of a calendar year is that as many dealers are behind clearing their existing inventory, a lot of them will end up offering additional deals and benefits on these models. You could hence grab discounts on a variety of products, including warranty and service packages as well as free accessories and even insurance.

Now that we’ve gone through all the benefits of buying a car at this time, here’s a look at some of the downsides:

Reduced Resale Value

A car purchased at the end of the year is considered a year older when the new year begins, even if it's only a few days or weeks old. Mainly because the date of registration is present on the registration certificate. For instance, a car bought in December will still likely be considered a year older when compared to a car of the same make and model purchased the following January. This initial depreciation can affect the perceived value of the car when the time to sell it off or trade it in comes. But if you intend to keep the vehicle for a long time and resale value isn’t a bother, then it's still an advantage considering all the above-mentioned pros.

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Limited Inventory

Another downside is that because it’s the year-end, many carmakers would have already limited the rollout of fresh inventory to dealers, leading to a pending batch produced earlier. This robs you of picking your preferred variant, and even engine and colour option, because of the crunched availability. That means you’d have no choice but to wait for the next year, which in turn means less discounts and offers and a potential price hike as well.

These are some of the advantages and disadvantages of buying a new car at the end of the year. Are you planning to buy a new car now or later and if so, which one? Do share your thoughts with us in the comments.

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