Car Dealership Inventory Quick Facts
- Knowing how long a car has been sitting on a dealer’s lot can be used as leverage to negotiate a more favorable price.
- Dealerships generally negotiate lower prices on vehicles in their “aged inventory,” or those on the lot longer than 60-90 days.
- It’s possible to determine how long a car has been at a dealership by reviewing its vehicle history report or by monitoring online inventory listings over time.
You’ve probably considered several essential tips and tricks for negotiating the best price as you get closer to buying a new or used car. How long a dealership has had a particular vehicle for sale can be another good negotiation tool, a tactic even savvy car shoppers sometimes overlook. Keep reading to learn how to determine how long a car has been sitting on a lot and how it can help you get a better price on your next vehicle.
How Knowing Inventory Age Helps
In general, car dealerships become more willing to drop prices when they’ve had a car on their lot for longer than 60 to 90 days. The main reason for this is obvious: When a dealership first gets a car, there’s no reason to lower the price if customers are immediately interested. However, the longer a dealership has a car without selling it, the less likely the dealership is to find an interested buyer. That’s when dealers start to drop prices to help the car sell, and that’s when you should swoop in and negotiate the best deal you can.
New car dealers on average had a 66-day supply after the spring selling season, as the threat of tariffs sent a rush of shoppers out to buy new vehicles. The supply of used vehicles remains tight, especially for less expensive models. Used car dealers nationwide started May with an average of 43 days of stock to sell. That’s five days fewer than a year ago. For used cars under $15,000, data shows only 32 days’ worth of cars, six days less than the same time last year. The data is from Autotrader’s parent company, Cox Automotive, and its analysis of vAuto Live Market View.
Tariffs imposed on new cars might send some buyers to pre-owned lots, shortening the time used models stay on the lot in the coming months and driving up prices due to greater demand.
See our tariffs resource center for more information on how tariffs may affect your vehicle purchase.
How Long Has a Car Been on the Lot?
There are several ways to figure out how long a dealership has had a car. Paperwork is one: Check when the car’s paperwork and titling were completed, indicating when it arrived at the dealer. If the title and other documents show the car has been sitting at the dealership for 60 days or more, you can likely negotiate a good deal. It’s considered “aged inventory” at that point.
Another tool to use is a vehicle history report from AutoCheck or Carfax. Most dealers are willing to provide a report showing a vehicle’s history, including whether the car was involved in any accidents or incidents. However, a vehicle history report also reveals another essential piece of information: when the car was listed for sale. Once again, you can use this information to your advantage when negotiating the price.
And then there’s the tried-and-true method of figuring out how long a dealer has had a car: Watch the inventory. If you see a vehicle listed in a dealer’s Autotrader inventory for more than a month or two, it’s likely that the dealer is slowly becoming more willing to lower the price.
How Long Do Cars Usually Sit on the Lot?
Many dealers don’t allow a car to sit unsold for more than 60 to 90 days because they have other avenues, such as auto auctions, to move aging inventory from their lots. Popular models of new cars may sell faster, resulting in lower supply. Inventory data shows that Toyota and Honda stock fewer vehicles, and new car shoppers may experience low inventory on those vehicles. Overstocked vehicles may sit longer, and the likelihood of a better deal exists.
Luxury vehicles may sit longer, due to customization preferences. Convertibles may sit longer in winter, but sell faster when the weather warms up.
Specific to used vehicles, dealers often recondition and detail them. The countdown begins once the vehicle is posted for sale.
How Long Is Too Long for a Car to Be on the Lot?
Most new and used car dealers will tell you anything over 90 days is too long for a car to sit unsold. In fact, they would much prefer to turn a car in 30 days or less. However, a lot also depends on whether the dealer finances their inventory (floor planning) or owns the inventory free and clear. Floor planning involves interest payments on unsold inventory, which can mount up. That’s a clear motivator for a dealer to wheel and deal on aging inventory.
Our Take
In the car business, the term “aged inventory” refers to cars that have been sitting on the lot for so long that the dealer is ready to significantly lower the price to make a sale. If you can figure out which models are aged inventory when buying a car, you can typically negotiate a better-than-average deal on your next vehicle.
Editor’s Note: This article has been updated since its initial publication.
