Good Car Deals for June 2010?

May 25, 2010

How good will the new car deals for June 2010 be?

We don’t have a crystal ball and car manufacturers don’t pre-announce upcoming car programs and incentives but we can make some pretty good guesses based on our experience in the business.

As you might know, the current round of May 2010 incentives ends on June 1. That means any new programs will be announced sometime after that date. Nobody knows just what new programs will be announced. Car manufacturers don’t even tell their dealers in advance.

Our guess is that June 2010 incentives will not be as good as some of the more recent programs. Most car makers blew it out in March and April, which created a couple of the best car sales months in years. However, they backed off in May and we expect to see some additional reductions in June. In fact, we may not see any more outstanding incentives until the fall buying season.

Does that mean we won’t see any good deals at all in June and during the summer? Of course not. There will always be some great deals being offered. It just won’t be on as many models and styles. And some manufacturers will be more agreessive than others.

Look for Toyota to continue offering attractive incentives just as it has for the last few months as it attempts to pull out of the sales slump created by its recent technical problems.

Also look for Toyota’s competitors to be actively attempting to get some of those customers — Honda, Nissan, and Mazda in particular.

Look for special lease deals to be plentiful in June. Car leasing is coming back strong after a two-year slump, particularly with non-American car brands.

Although rebates won’t be as large in June for this year’s models, look for especially heavy rebates on leftover 2009 models.

Finally, 0% APR loans will be more popular than rebates with car makers this summer. The reason is that with a rebate, they lose money immediately but with a 0% loan they lose money more slowly.

In summary, June 2010 car deals won’t be quite as good, overall, as in the last three months, but that doesn’t mean you can’t still get a good deal. You’ll have to watch for deals a little more closely and maybe hone up on your negotiating skills.