Cars and Drivers

Black Friday Is the Best Day of the Year To Shop for a Used Car--And These Are the Best Deals

tomeng / Getty Images

If you’re in the market for a used vehicle and if you can tear yourself away from the ubiquitous Black Friday promotions that retailers have been touting for weeks, you could get the best deal of the year on the vehicle you’ve got your eye on.

Black Friday is the one day of the year that offers vehicle buyers the best chance of getting a deal. According to auto search engine iSeeCars.com, the average number of deals available on used vehicles increases by 33.1% on Black Friday. That’s slightly better than the 32.5% increase on Veteran’s Day and 10% better than the 30.5% increase on Columbus Day.

The firm’s analysts also looked at which used vehicles offer the best Black Friday deals. A Toyota Sequoia full-size SUV tops the list with an average Black Friday savings of 10.4%. Rounding out the top five are the Porsche Macan compact SUV (10.3%), VW Beetle (9.2%), Toyota Sienna minivan (9.1%), and the Fiat 500 and Ford Fiesta sedan (8.6%). And if you’re looking for a Chevy Corvette, it ranks among the top 10 for Black Friday deals with a discount of 8.3%, or about $3,146.

According to iSeeCars CEO Phong Ly, “The best days to buy a car fall at the end of the year after new models have been introduced by automakers. This is a popular time for new vehicle buyers who want to take advantage of generous incentives and rebates on outgoing model-year vehicles, and as a result, there’s a high supply of used cars that dealers need to get rid of.”

Overall, the month of November is the best month of the year to get a good deal on a used vehicle with nearly 27% more deals than on an average day. December (23.5% more deals) and January (21.4% more deals) rank second and third.

Ly added, “Between year-end promotions and dealers’ scrambling to take advantage of the last few months of the year to meet their sales quotas,” Ly noted, “the conventional wisdom of shopping for a car at the end of the year holds true, though there are some holidays that are better times.”

Other SUVs that offer plentiful deals are the compact Honda HR-V (8.3%), VW Tiguan, (7.9%), and Porsche Cayenne (7.6%).

Maserati’s luxury Ghibli sports sedan carries a Black Friday price that is 8% lower than average and deals on a used Ford Mustang can save you 7.8%.

Among pickups, the Nissan is among the top 10 of all vehicles with 8.3%in savings. Ford’s F-150 (6.8%) and the Toyota Tacoma (6.4%) are other pickups to consider.

The number of new car buyers is at its peak right now and that drives up the number of trade-ins. If you’re looking for a good deal, now’s the time as dealers would like to keep their inventory moving.

Credit Card Companies Are Doing Something Nuts

Credit card companies are at war. The biggest issuers are handing out free rewards and benefits to win the best customers.

It’s possible to find cards paying unlimited 1.5%, 2%, and even more today. That’s free money for qualified borrowers, and the type of thing that would be crazy to pass up. Those rewards can add up to thousands of dollars every year in free money, and include other benefits as well.

We’ve assembled some of the best credit cards for users today.  Don’t miss these offers because they won’t be this good forever.

 

Flywheel Publishing has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Flywheel Publishing and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers.

Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us?
Contact the 24/7 Wall St. editorial team.