Stop Guessing About the Best Time to Buy a Car

Way back when I was young, stupid and going to the wrong college and studying the wrong courses--wrong for me anyway, I was taking a retail merchandising class. The one thing I remembered from that class was a chart in one of our books that showed the best time to buy anything like sheets, china, and other things that really don't impact your wallet all that much. I can't seem to replicate that exact chart anywhere but if you interested I'm sure the Internet can help you out.

What I want now is that same chart but tells me without a doubt when is the best time to buy big money items like cars and houses. Like everybody else, I've got my theories on when to buy...houses = spring, cars= end of the month. But these aren't hard and fast rules and aren't based on data. So imagine my excitement when I came across a new gadget on Edmunds, which helps with the guessing about car prices.

It's their True Market Value: Predicted Price Trends. This handy gizmo shows you the pricing forecast for most cars over the following 30-Days. Just find the model you are interested in and the chart will show you whether there is an expected big increase (2% or greater); mild increase (1% to 2% change); relatively flat (less than 1% change); mild decrease (1% to 2% change); or big decrease (2% or greater).

Ah, knowledge...you gotta love it's power.

As far as I know no such tool exists for home sales, but their a different beast.