Month to Month

In the car business, the only time period that matters is between the first and last day of the month. Not the day, week, season, year, or career.

Sales goals, store goals, Dollar goals, unit goals, etc., are all set for the month. At the end of the month, everything needs to be totalled and turned into the office. There they crunch the numbers and eventually issue the statement for the month. Then the monthly paychecks can be issued. Then you analyze everything to try to decipher what happened, and why. You compare to previous months and years. By the time you've figured out what happened last month, it's the 15th of the current month, and you haven't focused a bit on making sure it's going properly.

Sales managers across the country are saying, "OMG! It's already the 15th, and we only have 10 cars out? What are we going to do? Let's have a sale! If anyone has anything working, let me know, I'm ready to deal! We've got to get something going this month!" It's hilarious.

So what does this mean to you, the consumer? I'll share a trade secret with you:

By far, the best day of the month to purchase a car is the last day.

Chances are, your salesperson is one unit away from a bonus. Or the store is one unit away from their goal. Or they're only a couple units shy of breaking the record. But whatever the case is, they are far more excited about selling a car on the last day of the month than the first, which means you could get a much better deal.

In fact, with new cars, the manufacturer will set a unit goal for the dealer. They might call up on the first, and say, "Your goal is 15 trucks and vans." So what happens if they meet the goal? The manufacturer will retroactively pay the dealer extra money for each unit. Let's say it's 750 Dollars this particular month. Say the dealer has 14 trucks and vans out, and here you come looking at a van. If you buy it, the store will get 11250 Dollars. Do you think they'll cut you a deal? You bet! They'd be stupid to not lose 4 thousand Dollars on your deal to pocket 11250 Dollars, right? But that's a best-case-scenario, luck-of-the-draw type situation. But one thing is for certain, it can NEVER happen on the first of the month.

Happy shopping!