DETROIT — If the spirit of giving — or of treating yourself — has inspired you to buy a car this holiday season, you’re in luck. Many local auto dealerships are overflowing with sedans, trucks and SUVs, so there are deals to be had.
Most dealers have abundant supplies of 2013 models, and 2014s are arriving as automakers keep factories humming. Since dealers pay interest on money borrowed to buy the cars, they’re probably anxious to sell them soon.
Normally you can get 5 to 6 percent off the sticker price when dealing, but that could rise to 8 or 10 percent this month, said Alec Gutierrez, senior analyst for Kelley Blue Book. That means, for instance, you can get roughly $1,880 to $2,351 off a 2014 Chevy Malibu 1LT with a sticker price of $23,510.
Cars to look at
The bargains, dealers say, depend a lot on what car, SUV or truck you want to buy. The best deals now are in the small and midsize car segments.
Toyota, for instance, is offering $1,750 cash back on the midsize Camry in the Washington area, and competitors are following, said Tammy Darvish, vice president of a 21-dealer group in the Washington, D.C., metro area that sells Toyota, Ford, Kia, Chrysler, Volkswagen and other makes. That’s before trying to make a deal.
There also are some good deals on pickup trucks as Ford, which has the oldest big truck in the market, offers discounts and forces other automakers to follow, Gutierrez said. Ford is offering up to $8,500 off a 2013 Ford F-150 XLT Super Cab with a sticker price of around $30,000.
Luxury car dealers advertise heavily for the holidays and offer good lease deals. Lexus is offering to lease an ES sedan for $359 per month for 27 months with $3,200 down.
More discounts coming
As tempting as it might be to have a gift car sitting in the driveway Christmas morning, Gutierrez says the last weekend of the year is typically when prices are the lowest.
“Everybody wants to hit whatever internal targets they have,” said Scott Fink, CEO of a small chain of Hyundai, Mazda and Chevrolet dealers in Florida’s Tampa Bay area. “The ultimate winners are the consumers.”
In addition to the high inventory, there are other factors in consumers’ favor: Interest rates are low and used-car values are still close to record highs, making trade-ins worth more money.
Also, automakers still are offering sweet lease deals, with leases running at about 25 percent of sales, near a record high, Gutierrez said. Electric car lease deals are especially good, he said. Some dealers are offering the electric Nissan Leaf for $199 per month for 36 months with $2,000 down.
If you wait until next year you run some risks. Interest rates may rise and trade-in values are likely to drop a bit, Gutierrez said.
“You’re not leaving a ton of money on the table” by waiting, he said. “But really there’s no time like the present.”