Although fanfare less, fall remains popular time to buy new vehicle

For gearheads, recreational motorists and aficionados of the great American automobile, the next few weeks will be like Christmas, senior prom and the most awesome 16th birthday party ever all rolled into one.

That's because this, traditionally, is the time of year when new cars start appearing in dealers' showrooms. And even if the buzz of a new car season isn't quite as loud today as it was during the heyday of mid-20th century American motoring, it still can be a good time for savvy consumers to find some solid deals.

Veteran Southern Nevada car dealer Jim Marsh remembers how new car season used to be, when commercials for new models filled the airwaves and some dealers even resorted to hanging paper over showroom windows to keep people from peeking inside.

Today, "that's all gone the way of high-top shoes," Marsh says, at least in part because auto companies have moved toward "kind of a generic design" for their vehicles that doesn't change dramatically from year to year.

"Not all of them," Marsh adds. "But where they used to change (cars') looks every year, that doesn't happen anymore, so it takes the excitement out of what's new."

Allen Lee, general manager of Findlay Honda, remembers that, when he got into the business in the early '70s, the arrival of new models in September "was a really big deal."

"Even if there weren't a lot of changes," Lee adds, "there was just something about it."

Today, manufacturers introduce new cars throughout the year, Lee says, although that hasn't stopped frequent car buyers -- those who buy a car every three to five years and who, Lee says, "want the latest and the greatest" -- from making it a point to check out the new models each fall.

For less frequent buyers -- those who'll hang on to a car for six to 10 years, or even until it falls apart -- Lee says, fall's new car season probably "isn't as important."

Nonetheless, and diminished buzz or not, fall remains a good time to buy a new car, says Mark Di Vincenzo, a Virginia-based writer and author of "Buy Ketchup in May and Fly at Noon: A Guide to the Best Time to Buy This, Do That and Go There" (Harper, $13.99).

Di Vincenzo estimates that "at least 80 percent" of new car models still are unveiled in September. That creates an incentive for dealers to move the previous year's models off of their lots to make room for new models which, in turn, can make them willing to offer prospective car buyers good deals, he notes.

Jeff Bartlett, Consumer Reports' deputy online editor for autos, notes that car manufacturers may offer dealers incentives to clear the previous model year's inventory, which, then, will "effectively give them more negotiating wiggle room" when haggling with prospective buyers.

"As with all aspects of car-buying, it pays to take the time to make sure the deal is right for you," Bartlett adds.

The first decision is whether to buy the previous year's, outgoing, model or the incoming, newer model. Bartlett notes that newer models can be appealing because they're often redesigned to promote better fuel economy or include "the latest safety features and latest styling trends and electronic entertainment and infotainment. The latest and the greatest often has a lot of appeal."

But, he notes, a new car also is an "unproven" car, and "we've found that, generally, the first model year for any new car is the least reliable.

"So there's a definite trade-off for the customer, which is something people don't want to think about, and that is: Do I give up not having the latest and greatest, despite how cool it looks, because it's not the most practical choice?"

"The choice then is, well, you can just wait a year and buy it in its second year," Bartlett continues, adding that Consumer Reports' data consistently indicate that, as manufacturers identify and fix the real-world problems that arise during a new car model's first year on the road, cars do tend to improve in their second model year.

On the other hand, a new model may contain safety features or other improvements that the older model may not. In the 2011 Honda Accord, for example, "one of the notable changes is, they improved the fuel economy by one mile per gallon," Bartlett says. "That's a pretty practical increase."

The consumer also has to consider the reality that car prices, like the prices of anything else, rise every year. Bartlett says new car base prices typically increase by $200 to $700 each year. However, whether it's worth it to save a few hundred dollars by buying the lower-priced, previous model year car depends in large part on the driver.

For example, a driver who plans to keep the car beyond a few years won't care about the depreciation any car suffers when it leaves the lot. Conversely, a driver who plans to trade in that new car in a few years may decide to lessen the effect of depreciation by buying the latest model.

"Cars depreciate more in their first year than in any other year," Bartlett says, and buying the previous model year's car "really favors the customer ... (who) has a history of holding onto the car for a long time."

By the way: If dealers' desire to move previous model year cars off of their lots in September can result in savings for consumers, will waiting until October -- or November, or even December -- result in even greater dealer incentive to move cars and even greater savings for the consumer?

Generally speaking, "the later into the fall, the better the deals get," Di Vincenzo says, and "some of the car dealers I spoke with said it's almost (dealer) desperation, the later you get into the calendar year."

But, he continues, waiting also probably will reduce the range of choices.

"This is kind of interesting," Di Vincenzo says, "but this is true: When you see all those cars that are bright yellow or bright purple or orange or bright green, you can ask the owners of those cars, 'When did you buy your car?' Ninety-nine out of 100 will tell you November or December.

"When people do their car shopping in the fall, particularly in September and October, they're not getting as good a deal as they would in November and December, but they have a much greater selection, so they're not buying those largely unpopular bright colors."

"Certainly if you wait until deeper into the fall, the dealer will be more hungry to get rid of the (older) vehicles, but you'll have far less selection," Bartlett agrees, and it also might mean that "you might not get the transmission you want. It could be something significant."

But now, or any other time of the year, Bartlett recommends that consumers pay the same attention to research that they would with any major purchase. For example, he recommends test-driving several models -- particularly if it has been a long time since your last car purchase -- researching prospective models via Consumer Reports and other sources, and investigating performance and reliability data as well as information about features and ownership costs.

Bartlett also recommends using online calculators to determine how much car a buyer can afford and loan costs -- most buyers, he says, finance 50 percent or more of their new vehicles -- and, if possible, getting pre-approved for a loan before shopping.

Now, and throughout the year, he says, "buying a car is the next greatest personal material investment people make besides their house. It really warrants doing the research."

Contact reporter John Przybys at jprzybys@ reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0280.