Model Car Closeout Season - Get your Best Deal

The "End of Year Closeout" period at car dealerships is quickly approaching and offer consumers a wide variety of never-before driven cars at steep discounts relative to their new-year model companions.

Purchasing a year-old car is the best deal for you if:

You're going to keep the car for more than five years. If you tend to keep your cars at least five years, then you would be better off to save money up front on the year-end model, because after five years of depreciation the difference between what was a new car and what was a year-end model will be negligible.

There's almost no difference between last year's and this year's model. If the difference between this year's model and last year's model is slight, the best deal from a resale value would be to purchase last year's model.

Year-end models carry the most incentive for you to buy them. Typically, dealers must move their inventory, so dealers will be more apt to offer the consumer a great price on this type of car.

Here are a few money-savvy tips that may help you drive a great deal on your next car purchase:

Educate yourself before you go to buy your car.

Check your credit rating before applying
Explore all of your financing options.
Arrive at the dealership with financing in hand.
Treat the car-buying process as three separate negotiations - vehicle price, trade-in value, and financing.
Read the final contract carefully.
Match your loan term to the time you expect to own the vehicle.