New Truck time to buy

I am looking to purchase a new Ram.

What is the best time to buy? Is it now or wait until the 2018's come out?

Does anyone know what incentives have been offered to get old inventory off the lot?

Just curious, I have a salesman working hard to convince me to jump now and commmit, but I am not in a hurry.

End of the month/end of the year.

I would think closeouts on the 2017's would be a good time thats happening over the next couple of months....

Just make sure there isn't something new on the 2018's that you " just have to have".....

Buy a used one. We got our Outdoorsman 4x4 quadcab for about 1/2 the cost of new. We love it!

X2

The only ones who buy new are people who can't afford used, if you know what I mean (financed to the max).

Experts say end of the year, around the holidays, and during the week, not weekend, is the best time to get your best deal. Financially speaking, a one or two year old vehicle is always a better deal, but if you have that urge for something brand new, it's understandable.

I bought a new truck last year. A 1 or 2 year old truck was roughly as much, or more money. Anything older than that was around 100,000 miles.

I bought mine in June 15, brand new for the same price as 2 year old used. They had it at $10k off. I don't know how they sell the used ones. I also doubt anyone pays normal "retail" on new ones.

Location location location! In southern WI, it usually is a much better deal to go to TX or GA for a new Ram than it is to buy here. Same is true for used. Even with adding in the shipping costs!

But there are times when the incentives work to your favor.

Your best bet (if you're buying locally) is to do your homework, and be patient!

Labor day weekend is the best time to buy, and it is coming up soon! New model is out, dealers want inventory gone, buyers market!

When you are saying a new truck was roughly the same as a one or two year old one, you could not have worked you best deal on the used one. It does not make sense. Yes, they want to move last year models, but they don't sell them cheaper than used vehicles. The markup is generally higher on used vehicles, so you have to work your best deal and you will get one for less than a new one. If that wasn't the case nobody would buy a used car, ever.

It doesn't seem logical, but can happen. It depends on the incentives and amount of new vehicles they want to move (slow seller, refresh, last before redesign, sales race?). Bought an Olds Cutlass way back that way, was looking at used but incentives pushed new a little under an equal 2yr old. Friend bought a Pontiac GTO like that too (notice the commonalities?). Worth researching at the very least.

It is possible, but as the prices are so close it makes more sense to get the new one. I'm currently seeing 2 year old similar trucks advertised for more than what I paid and they have more miles than what I have. With new there is also a much better selection.

end of the month like others have said. My truck listed at 35500, I got it at 27000. You can get up to 10k off if you qualify for all the rebates, but some of them are military member or leasee trade in.

I still say you don't know how low you can get the used one for, and just think that the new one is close to as low as the used one because you are comparing to ASKING price of the used, and NOT what you would get it for after negotiating, which would be MUCH less. (wow, run-on sentence lol).

Ok, real numbers - IIRC I was looking at a 2yr old low miles bench seat Cutlass at 18,900 or so. The new one priced 21-22 and with all incentives I was at 17,500. They could only go down 1000 or so on the used one. Who knows, maybe they overpaid wholesale or took a hit on a trade-in? Maybe they could have went down to 17,300 after hours of negotiation? They were pushing the new, I got to choose bucket seats from a row of cars, and went home with no worries.

For Ram, maybe the 2017 pig nostrils aren't selling well and they're really pushing them out for the 2018 refresh. Maybe corporate is vying to pass Chevy that month. It's at least worth a look over used.

Maybe these guys are just lazy and looking at used stuff at the dealer that's stickered high to push guys to the new stuff. A while later the used stuff gets shipped off to a used car lot quietly associated with the dealer and sold for a more reasonable price. Even better yet if you look around for one for sale privately. I couldn't imagine a financial decision worse than buying a new truck from a dealer. But I guess someone has to take all that loss so car companies can stay in business and reasonably priced used stuff is out there for the rest of us.

I agree 100% with Soopernaut. I went through and experienced the same issue on the west coast. I bought my 2016 Big Horn in January 2017 in a "sale" and with both dealer and manufacturer incentives there was no way a used truck could not compete. As well, if you have time and want to make a mini-vacation out of your purchase, go to Dave Smith in Kellogg Idaho. They are the largest Mopar dealer in the US and due to inventory have some of the best deals going. Internet and out of state sales are a huge part of their business. Some people even come from Alaska and Hawaii to but there.

- EM

Maybe you are paying too much for used stuff and you could be getting a better deal on a new truck. Yesterday I looked at all similar trucks sold on ebay and all similar trucks for sale on cars.com within 500 miles of me.

At first I was seeing what looked to be really good deals on ebay until I looked at what was being sold. They were salvage titled, prior damage, lemon law/manufacturer buybacks plus one with a title issue. After eliminating all of those the prices were within a few thousand of what I paid a year ago for a new truck. Out of these, they were either more miles than I have now or had fewer options. There were 2 Canadian trucks being sold in Michigan that were a couple/few thousand less. Canadian trucks are about the same price new(number, not equivalent amount)as US trucks but the exchange rate makes them more of a bargain when imported into the US.

The only other place I can think of that you might get a really good deal would be an auction.

None of the bargains were in my area either so you would have to figure transportation costs into that as well. I kept my last truck for 15 years and will keep this one as long if there are no major issues with it.

Exactly my experience Soop. Laziness had nothing to do with my experience. I suspect private guys do not end up selling their overpriced beauties and I suspect the only way dealers sell their overpriced, used junk is by making the difference to a trade on the used truck look good on paper. I bought my 15 cash, no trade so it was easy to make a few phone calls out of town when the local dealers weren't serious about selling new or used.

when scanning ebay for cummins trucks it seems the best deals are in texas and oklahoma...