This Is the Best Time of Year for Cheap Used Sports Car Shopping
Fall is here, and that means it’s time to think about storing those sports cars for winter. But if you’re shopping for a cheap used sports car, this is also your time to shine. As owners decide whether to sell or store their summer cars, an opportunity arises as cheap sports cars flood the market before winter.
Why is fall the best time for cheap used sports car buying?
For most, driving a sports car in the winter is a bad idea. Anyone north of the Mason-Dixon will likely see a winter of unfriendly sports car conditions. From corrosive salt to slippery roads, those low-slung, rear-wheel drive sports cars don’t fare well in a northern winter. That leads drivers to a decision: paying for storage, letting it sit in the garage or driveway, displacing the daily driver, or selling the car in preparation for something new next spring.
Dealerships and individual sellers cut the best sports car deals in October and November
It’s hard to find many reasons to buy a sports car just as winter approaches, but that’s exactly why you want to do it. Per Road and Track, dealerships aren’t offering good trade-in values on used sports cars, because they’re likely to sit on the lot for months before selling. That pushes owners to try their luck on the open market, where they can pocket more of the car’s value in cash.
And according to Business Insider, second-hand cars bring in the least money in November. That especially applies to rear-wheel drive sports cars, which aren’t well-suited to the troubling weather coming just a few weeks later. Because potential buyers want to drop the convertible top, test performance, and experience the fun of a sports car on a test drive, the colder months are a terrible time to sell.
Rather than pay for a winter of storage, owners will try to sell their used sports cars before the snow starts to fly. And for cheap used car shoppers, that makes October and November the right time to hit up Facebook Marketplace.
Even dealerships discount sports cars in the fall
While October and November aren’t unfavorable for the general car-buying public, these are the best months to hit your local dealership for sports cars. Dealers despise sitting on inventory, and with miserable weather looming, the window for selling those used sports cars is closing fast. You can be the beneficiary of the impending winter; one of the rare times you can put the dealership on its back foot in a negotiation. With some knowledge and resolve, you can take home that cheap sports car and still have a month or two of fun before the weather turns sour.
Used sports cars are most expensive in late spring
As you might expect, the market for used sports cars flips once the weather warms up. If you’re in the market, a cheap used sports car is never easier to find than it will be right now. Even if you don’t plan on driving it until spring, you can enjoy big savings now and save the cash for sticky tires and new wheels before you hit the road in May.
