Wheel of a deal: Cleveland-area car dealers deliver savings secrets

CLEVELAND - There are some good car deals to be had leading up to the big Labor Day weekend sales. Car buyer Henry Jackson wanted to upgrade his Chevrolet truck to a brand new model – but he’s going home with a 2012 instead. That’s where the best deals are across all brands right now.

“With this deal here, everybody is satisfied, especially me,” he said.

Before the recession hit, car dealers usually rolled out deep discounts to move their stock off the lot leading up to the traditional Labor Day weekend rush.

“The longer a car sits on our lot, the more it costs us, so we always want to get the oldest stuff out to make room for the new stuff,” said Mike Lally of Lally Chevrolet.

Auto manufacturers used to build as many cars as they possibly could. Now they’re a lot more careful about how many they produce.

Some dealers are allocated their 2013 inventory based solely on how many 2012's they sell first – creating some good deals for consumers.

“Those dealers who are aggressive and turn their inventory the fastest, earn that new inventory the fastest,” said Dustin Peugeot of Liberty Ford. Car shopper Craig Bednarek said, “I almost prefer a 2012 with a good deal on it than a 2013 with a top sticker price.”

Here’s a sample of some deals on 2012 models:

- Ford will give you no-interest financing for 60 months on certain models or some cash back.
- Chevrolet has a no-haggle pricing policy along with a money-back guarantee for 60 days.
- Chrysler is offering a $1000 discount and zero-percent interest for 72 months on one model.

No matter what kind of car you want, Cleveland State University business professor Elad Granot advises that you do your research online before you arrive on the lot.

“That puts a lot of pressure on them, it really brings a power shift that happens in that situation where you as a consumer are much more powerful – and that’s a new situation for car dealers,” he said.

Granot had more purchasing tips for the prospective car buyer:

- Always negotiate, even if the dealer has a firm sticker price.
- Stick to the Kelley Blue Book for trade-in prices.
- Walk out if you’re not ready to purchase, and see what kind of deal you’ll be offered.

No matter what your strategy, there are deals to be found, and people are buying. Nationwide, more than a million new cars were sold in July than the same period last year. Preliminary figures show August could go even higher.

Banks are also making more loans to borrowers with less-than-perfect credit. More than a third of new loans made in the last few months were to non-prime borrowers, up about 3 percent from a year earlier.

In any case, the average amount of an auto loan is rising, and banks are making more loans too, especially at this time of year. However, more car owners are paying their auto loans on time than ever before. A new credit agency report shows overdue payments are at their lowest level in 22 years.