When is the best time to
buy a used car?
22 July 2026 · 6 min read
"Wait until January, prices drop." You hear it everywhere. Is it true? Partly. Seasonal patterns do exist on the used car market and knowing them makes you a smarter buyer. But the honest answer is more nuanced: the moment in the year matters less than the moment in the life of the listing. In this article you get both: the patterns per season, per day and per hour, plus the timing that actually saves you money.
In which month are used cars cheapest?
There is no magic month, but there are patterns. January and late summer often show slightly softer asking prices, convertibles are usually cheaper in winter and 4x4s and winter cars are cheaper in summer. The difference per season is smaller, however, than the difference between a motivated and a patient seller: a sharply priced car is gone within hours in any season.
Seasonal patterns on the used car market
| Period | What you see on the market |
|---|---|
| Winter (November to February) | Convertibles and summer cars cheaper: few buyers want one now, so anyone selling one has to come down |
| January | Demand often softer after the holidays; sellers who did not manage to sell in December lower their price |
| Spring | Demand picks up, convertible prices bounce back; for most everyday models a normal market |
| Summer and late summer | 4x4s and winter cars cheaper; during the holiday period fewer buyers are active, so late summer more often shows softer prices |
| New car delivery waves | As soon as ordered new cars and company cars are delivered, trade-ins and private "must go now" sales flood the market |
Indicative patterns based on what buyers, sellers and traders report in forums and communities (2026). Applies to private listings on 2dehands.be, Marktplaats.nl and AutoScout24 across BE+NL.
The logic behind those patterns is simple supply and demand. Nobody dreams of top-down driving in December, so a BMW convertible posted in November competes with almost no buyers. The other way around, a 4x4 feels redundant in July. Whoever buys against the season usually pays less for exactly the same car.
Still, the seasonal gain is limited. A popular Volkswagen Golf or Polo has buyers all year round, so seasons barely show there. The real price differences come from the sellers themselves and you find those in every month.
The day and the hour matter more than the month
Most private listings go online on weekdays between 18:00 and 21:00. People get home from work, take the photos and put the car up. Sunday is the other peak: sellers then have time to wash the car, photograph it and write the listing at their own pace.
Why does that matter to you as a buyer? Because sellers respond fastest right after posting. They are still on their phone, curious about the first reactions. Whoever calls within the first hour often gets the first viewing that same week. Whoever emails the next morning stands at the back of a queue of ten.
And then there is the end of the month. That is when you find more sellers who need money quickly: the rent, a bill, the deposit on the next car. Those sellers price lower and negotiate more easily, because speed matters more to them than the last hundred euros.
Motivated sellers: the real buying moment
The best deals do not follow a calendar. They follow life events. Someone moves abroad and has to sell the car before the end of the month. The company car arrives and the private car suddenly sits jobless in the driveway. A divorce, a second child, a loan that needs paying off: all sellers who put speed above the highest price.
You recognise those sellers in the listing itself. "Selling due to move", "got a company car", "quick deciders get priority". They often price below the market to be sold within days. Listings like that appear every week of the year, in January just as well as in June. You just have to see them before anyone else does. What to check on site afterwards is in our checklist for buying from a private seller.
Why "when in the year" matters less than "how soon after posting"
This is where it all comes together. An underpriced car is gone within hours in any season, in January just as in August. How fast good cars disappear is something we examined before: sharply priced popular models sometimes go within 2 hours and the peak of new listings falls exactly on the evening hours when most buyers are not actively searching.
That means: whoever waits six months for "the cheapest month" misses dozens of listings priced below market in the meantime. The seasonal patterns above are useful as background, especially for convertibles and 4x4s. But the buyer who sees every fresh listing within minutes beats the buyer who plays the calendar. Every time.
Negotiating: look at the listing, not at the calendar
Your strongest negotiating position can be read from how long a listing has been online. If a car has been for sale for three weeks or longer, the seller now knows his price is not working. That is where the room is. If the listing is an hour old and the price is sharp, haggling is exactly how you lose the car: the next caller simply pays the asking price.
| Listing online for | Your approach |
|---|---|
| Day 1, sharp price | Pay the asking price, arrange a viewing immediately. Negotiating costs you the car here |
| 1 to 2 weeks | Limited margin: a fair, well-argued offer is possible, but do not count on big discounts |
| 3 weeks or longer | Almost always room to negotiate: the seller already doubts his own price |
| Price already lowered once | Motivated seller: a sharper offer pays off here, especially with cash and a quick handover |
How to handle that conversation, with which arguments and in which order, is in our article on negotiating with a private seller.
How to see every good moment automatically
All the timing in this article has one problem: you have to be there yourself. At 19:30 on a Tuesday, on Sunday afternoon, at the end of the month. Autoflip solves that by monitoring 2dehands.be, Marktplaats.nl, AutoScout24 BE, AutoScout24 NL and Mobile.de continuously. As soon as a new listing matches your filters (brand, price, year, mileage, fuel type) you get a Telegram message within seconds.
So you no longer have to predict "the best moment". Whether the deal lands in January or July, at 19:00 or on Sunday morning: you see it first, call first and are the first one standing in the seller's driveway.
Frequently asked questions
In which month are used cars cheapest?+
There is no magic month, but there are patterns. January and late summer often show slightly softer asking prices, convertibles are usually cheaper in winter and 4x4s and winter cars are cheaper in summer. The difference per season is smaller, however, than the difference between a motivated and a patient seller: a sharply priced car is gone within hours in any season.
At what time do most private listings go online?+
The peak is usually on weekdays in the early evening; you can see the live measured hourly curve on the Best-Time Clock. Sellers also respond fastest right after posting, so whoever calls within the first hour has the best chance of getting the first viewing.
Is the end of the month a good time to buy a car?+
Often, yes. Around the end of the month there are more sellers who need money quickly, for example for rent or an outstanding bill. Those sellers price lower and negotiate more easily, because speed matters more to them than the last hundred euros.
When is the best time to negotiate on a used car?+
Look at how long the listing has been online, not at the calendar. If a car has been online for three weeks or longer, there is almost always room to negotiate. If the listing was just posted and the price is sharp, you are better off paying the asking price: whoever haggles at that point loses the car to the first caller who does not.
The best moment? The second after posting.
Autoflip monitors 2dehands, Marktplaats and AutoScout24 BE+NL and Mobile.de. Telegram alert within seconds. 14 days free.
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