Interested in what folks are seeing from a pricing and incentives perspective on the 04's. I am looking at the possible purchase of an 04 A6 2.7 T Quattro and, from what I have heard, dealers are being aggressive in moving these with the 05 model line coming within the next 2 months. If you have any info/input, I would love to hear it. Thanks

 

The end of March, the end of September, and the end of December. These are always your best times to purchase a car. If you can't wait for any of these dates, then try to buy on the last day of the month.

 

I've always heard that it's good to wait til the end of the month to make a purchase cuz salesmen are trying to fill their quotas and the are more likely to give you a better deal, but why March, September, and December in particular?

 

Yep your right, family used to be in the car business.

 

Yeah, but why are March, September and December particularly good months to buy?

 

This year in general will probably be a good time to buy since the new style is coming out... as it gets closer to the end of the year, you'll probably be able to swing a better deal for the dealer to clear out the lot, but your options will be limited.

Personally, I think you need to go in armed with the information you need and proactively swing a deal you are happy with and not reactively wait for the dealer to to provide the incentives... though if you can swing both at the same time, even better.

There was a site I visited a while back, car buying tips that gave some pretty good insight, including some of the "end of the month / year" deals as mentioned above. Check it out when you get time and you'll be better informed on how much you should be paying.

 

Gotchya. Thanks for the link. I always enjoy re-educating myself!

 

Because they are at the end of the fiscal quarter. June is at the fiscal quarter, too, but it is in the summer when sales are typically high.

 

There you go again getting all intelligent on us!

 

It's all about the quota, as you pointed out earlier. The quotas are much more important at the end of a quarter.

March is good, because sales are typically at their worst due to the typical winter slump.
September is OK for this year's model, because they need to be moved to give clearance for the new (read: next year's model) inventory; allotments for new cars from the factories are based on the sales from these past two quarters (March and September).
December is best, because it is not only the end of quarter but the end of the year and it is in the winter (again, sales are slow in the winter); management will be far more flexible on making end of year deals (on this year's model - not the new model) so that their sales look higher for their end-of-year stats.