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Suppose you are thinking of buying a new pickup truck. In that case, the question “when is the best time to buy a truck?” will likely be one of the first things to pop into your mind, especially since we all have spent over one and a half years fighting a global pandemic that has impacted anyone and everyone around us.
But at the same time, more people have found a love for the outdoors and are asking this question. So let’s try to answer it. Is 2021 the right time, or is it better to hold off a little longer?
Changing Habits
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Since the pandemic, we have had to drastically rethink our lifestyles. This situation has caused an ever-growing range of people to explore the outdoors and backlands across the country while picking up a multitude of outdoor hobbies.
Vehicle sales did take a drastic hit during the first year of the pandemic, but the impact on pickup truck sales has been significantly lower than other smaller cars.
Are Prices Expected to Drop Anytime Soon? Is It the Best Time to Buy a New Truck?
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The COVID-19 pandemic has played a prominent role in the shortage of semiconductor chips over many industries, including medical equipment, consoles and consumer cars. Because the car industry took a hit in 2020 and saw decreased sales for a more extended period, chip manufacturers allocated their manufacturing capacity towards chips for other products.
The global chip shortage will likely drag on until next year, which means the best time to buy a truck in 2021 is a tough question to answer. Waiting until 2022 might be a better bet.
But there are some indications that it could improve halfway through the year as supplies become more available and hopefully widely available again by 2023. So if you can hold off purchasing a new truck, you probably should ride this out and wait for the best time to buy a new truck.
Budget For Buying a Pickup Truck in 2021
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During the pandemic, we were also forced to rethink our saving and spending habits. So, it resulted in Americans saving a more significant proportion of their money and spending less on luxury than they would have before the pandemic. Pickup trucks are not unnecessary spending items since they are usually workhorses. That’s the reason why their sales took a much more minor hit than the sedan sales did.
While it may not be easy to find a good deal on a new car at the moment, there are still dealerships that provide good incentives to purchase a new pickup. Some would include 0% interest financing for 72 months or a cashback deal.
Although car incentives are at an all-time low right now, you may be able to get a better deal during the upcoming holidays as car dealerships have always been more inclined to offer extra incentives during that time of year and it is traditionally the best time to buy a new truck. So who knows, with the best month to buy a truck usually being December, you might drive off with a better deal because the dealership is more eager to make their quota and will be keener to negotiate an agreement with you.
Supply and Demand Dictates the Best Time to Buy a New Truck
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During the first year of the pandemic, many rental companies sold off their older models to keep afloat. But now, they are stocking up their capacity to keep up with rentals and even buy used cars, which is a complete turnaround for them. Therefore you now have to compete with rental companies purchasing used vehicles from the market.
Manufacturers produced fewer cars in 2020, so even fewer remain to be snatched up now, driving the prices up even further, so this is not the best time of year to buy a new truck. Some dealerships will still have models from the year prior that they would prefer to sell you. But, especially at the end of the year, you may be able to strike a better deal and leave with the truck you want with fewer concessions as you would have when opting for the newest model.
Currently, many manufacturers are producing vehicles without chips. These cars are simply parked and stored, waiting for chips to become available. Once they do become available, those vehicles will enter the dealership stocks and become widely available again. That, too, may cause dealerships to give you better buyer incentives.
But for now, there is a massive shortage of cars. As a result, the prices of vehicles, both new and used, are going up dramatically. In other words, this is not the best time to buy a new truck.
Conclusion
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Is 2021 the best time to buy a new truck? Unfortunately, the answer is no. It’s better to wait for now.
If you are sure that you will need a new car soon, it may be better to start looking around to find a vehicle that matches your needs, wishes and budget sooner than later, as the options are limited compared to what you may be used to when browsing for a new vehicle.
People are still buying cars and trucks, so there is still a chance you may run into an ideal used truck if you are open to that option. But keep in mind that even used car prices have gone up drastically and in some cases even rose to 30% more of what they were several years ago, so this isn’t the best time to buy a used truck.
If you can afford to put it off for a while and wait out the worst of the chip shortage and limited supply, around mid-2022, there should be wider availability of new and secondhand vehicles. This availability could mean you have to make fewer concessions when buying a truck and even opt for extra overland upgrades.