"Dealerships have both monthly and annual goals. They want to move cars, so now is a great time to buy because they want to get the cars out of the inventory and get you a great price on the car," said Kasey Soll, marketing director for TrueCar.com, a car pricing research website.
She says the entire month of December is when buyers get the best prices, but certain days are better than others.
For example, on Friday, Dec. 17, you can expect to save 7.7 percent on average on a new car. But on Saturday, the 18th, it drops to 7.6 percent. If you shop on Thursday, Dec. 30, you can expect 8.1 percent savings. On the 31st, it is not only the best day of the month, but the best day of the year to buy at 8.2 percent average savings.
Manufacturers and dealers are offering low interest financing, cash back rebates and discount incentives.
"The end of the year we try to make it extremely easy on the customer. Volkswagen as a compnay came out with what is called a sign and drive. They pay your first month's payment, you come in pick out the car, sign it and drive," said Clement Lehman, sales manager at Volkswagen Santa Monica.
But no matter how good the incentives are that a dealership is offering this time of year, before you go out shopping, make sure you do your homework.
"We found at TrueCar that actually consumers who walk into a dealership uninformed can actually end up spending 30 percent more than somebody who went in informed. So information is so powerful," said Soll.
TrueCar.com tracks what other people are paying for the same car you want, and with other websites like, Kelley Blue Book and Edmunds, you can get reviews and car buying tips on the cars you're interested in.
