celsoboy

We're in the market for a new car and have been looking at a 2003-2004 G-wagon. With being so late in the year, I wanted to hold off until early next year to purchase the vehicle so we can realize the savings with the model year price drop.

My question is: When do used car vehicles start dropping in price? Is it in line with the model year price drops (Sept-Oct) or is it in January? TIA

alpinweiss

NADA (National Automobile Dealers Association) publishes its used car pricing guide every month. This is the nationally recognized dealership guide, and is broken up into various regions. In general, used car prices fall each month (with a few exceptions, such as cars in high demand).

The biggest drop is usually January, but this can vary by car make and model. October sometimes also sees a larger than normal drop (generally not as big as Jan.), due to the arrival of the next model year.

A large drop in price can also follow the introduction of a new body-style for a particular model (e.g. W203 replacing W202). The exception to this is if the new body-style is considered less desirable than the older one.