Year-End Car Deals In 2013 Offer Savings… And Danger

Year-end car deals will probably be the best 2013 car deals you can find, but besides savings there’s also some dangers you need to watch out for.

As previously reported by The Inquisitr, the 2015 Ford Mustang GT reveal had both muscle power fans and greenies salivating in turbocharged unison due to the new fuel efficient EcoBoost engine design.

The reason that year-end car deals tend to be good is because the new models are flooding while the supply of 2013 models are still high. For example, TrueCar.com reports the average new car sales price fell by 0.5 percent from last month, which is the biggest drop since December of 2010:

“Relatively higher levels of discounting are being used to clear out 2013 model year vehicles. We expect transaction prices to continue to stay in record territory in the short term, as long as the fundamentals in the economy stay positive.”

Some reports claim you can convince a cars salesman to increase your 2013 year-end car deals all the way up to 10 percent off the sticker price. Normally, if the law of supply and demand happens to favor you, your bargaining power is typically limited to reducing the sticker price by about five percent at most.

The best year-end car deals tend to focus on mid-size to larger vehicles like trucks and SUVs. This is probably due to United States gas prices being so darn high, but Ford is offering $8,500 off a $30,000 2013 F-150 XLT. And if you wait until the last weekend of the year, you’re more likely to get that salesman to back down the price pronto since most dealerships have internal year-end sales targets.

You should also try online car shopping via Cars.com or AutoTrader.com. While it forces you to do your homework ahead of time, often times the online price is the lowest price the dealer is willing to offer. For example, some times you’ll see the online price but, when you show up in person, the sticker price is several thousand more.

So what dangers are there to worry about when shopping for the best year-end car deals? Most auto dealerships will probably attempt to sell you an extended warranty because it’s a real money maker for them, generating around $800 per car sold. Unfortunately, auto extended warranties tend to be a bad deal, with Consumer Reports saying that for every $1,000 spent on the warranty, only about $700 in benefits ever come back. This is a loss of $300 and, typically, the regular warranty for new cars are enough since these buyers tend to upgrade before they ever need their extended warranty.

When you’re signing the final paperwork, you also need to read the fine print and make sure you’re getting everything you’ve paid for. This writer has heard horror stories of crooked cars salespeople trying to remove warranty coverage or freebies like free car washes and oil changes in order to save the dealership some money.

Lastly, 2013 year-end car deals tend to focus on brand new cars. But, quite frankly, you’re more likely to find the the best car deals in 2013, and you are still likely to find more used vehicles that are certified by the dealership. If you search a little online you’re likely to find an almost new vehicle with less than 10,000 miles selling for thousands less than a completely new car.