Not Black Friday, Not Boxing Day – The Best Time To Buy A Used Car, According To iSeeCars
We often think of Black Friday, Presidents' Day, or Boxing Day as the best time to find deals. That's not necessarily true for cars, though, and the best time to buy a used car may not be the obvious holidays. A recent study by iSeeCarfound that Martin Luther King Jr. Day is the best day of the year to buy used cars — and by a lot.
After analyzing over 40 million used car sales from 2024 and 2025, iSeeCars found that MLK Day had the largest number of good deals on average, which it defined as saving buyers 10% or more. It found that there were 65.5% more deals than usual on MLK Day, making it the best day to shop for a used car. New Year's followed at 58.6%, then January as a whole at 55.6%. Rounding out the top five were Presidents' Day, with 47% more deals, and then February, with 36.2%.
You may notice a pattern in those results: cold weather. According to iSeeCars Executive Analyst Karl Brauer, there are more deals on used cars in colder months. "In general, used car prices follow the average temperature, with both falling between November and March and bottoming out between December 31 and February 28," Brauer explained. This explains why December and Halloween were among the best times to buy, with 15.2% and 6.8% more deals than average, respectively. Of course, you'll also want to pay attention to the car itself, as some used cars are better deals than others.
Why does winter have more used car deals than the summer?
The same iSeeCars study found that summer is the worst time of year to buy a used car. August, April, July, May, and June were the months with the lowest amount of good deals. June was the worst, with 22.8% fewer good deals than average. Following that trend, Memorial Day, Juneteenth, Father's Day, and July 4th were also among the worst days to buy a used car. "If you're seeing announcements about 'special offers' between Memorial Day and Labor Day, be skeptical and do your own research to compare an advertised car's price versus its market value," said iSeeCars' Karl Brauer.
What's the reason for cold months having more used car deals? One reason is likely that dealerships end up with inventory piling up in colder months due to a lack of foot traffic. Drivers in colder states may not want to brave the cold, snow, and icy roads just to check out a used vehicle. Dealerships are more likely to advertise good deals to incentivize reluctant customers, hoping to reduce their inventory and their car payments. Yes, dealerships don't actually own most of the cars in their inventory, and they have to make interest payments on those cars until they sell. This makes winter the best time to get a good deal on a used car — just make sure you do your research first to avoid making mistakes.