FOUR HOTTEST CAR DEALS IN SEPTEMBER
For car shoppers, September can be a banner month as dealers seek to clear inventory to make way for the 2018 models. So the good news is vehicle deals abound. The bad news is that the pace at which dealers and automakers were throwing extra goodies in the deals is slowing. Incentives averaged $3,736 per new car in August, car sales tracker Autodata reports, up just $358 — 10.6% — over the same month last year. That marks the second-lowest increase over the past 12 months. Still, experts say September remains a solid month to shop. Here are examples of some of the best deals nationally:
2017 JEEP CHEROKEE
How much can I save? Up to
$4,500 in cash discounts on a
2017 model, according to Automotive News. Cherokee sales collapsed 50.4% in August with 2017 models averaging 100 days on dealer lots, just above the month’s
97-day average for all new current model year vehicles. In our survey of five metro areas, we found higher cash-back discounts for 2017 — as much as $7,000 in some regions — with Oct. 2 expirations. But they generally required financing through Jeep, so be sure to read the fine print before you go.
Plenty, in fact. As of this writing, 47.5% of new Cherokees listed on Cars.com were 2017 models, so you shouldn’t have trouble finding one.
Discounts on the 2018 Cherokee ranged from $2,500 to $3,500 in the markets we surveyed, with financing required through Jeep in some, but not all, areas. Jeep offers discount financing as low as 0% on the 2017 or 2018 Cherokee, per Automotive News.
Yes, and it didn’t go well. Asked if we would buy it again, seven editors who weighed in all said nay. The Cherokee’s crashtest ratings give more cause for concern, but this list is about the cheapest cars, not the best cars — save our new Editor’s Choice pick at the bottom, which serves up a staff favorite with modest discounts.
MAZDA3
A decent amount. Mazda3 sales slipped
7.4% in August as the 2017 sedan averaged 103 days on dealer lots. Buy a base trim level of either body style and the factory discounts could knock off 10% alone. Through Oct. 2, Mazda is offering
$2,000 in cash discounts or financing as low as 0%.
There’s no advertised cash on the 2018 Mazda3 — which accounts for nearly half of new Mazda3 inventory on Cars.com — but qualified shoppers can get financing as low as 0.9%. That said, the 2018 Mazda3 gets some substantive updates, so consider them before you decide on a 2017 model.
It did, mostly due to the cramped cabin, unremarkable multimedia system and incessant road and wind noise. But the discounts are substantial.
TOYOTA PRIUS C
In most markets, a good chunk. Prius C sales tumbled 43.7% in August as the 2017 model-year hatchback averaged 104 days on dealer lots. Now through Oct. 2, Toyota is offering up to $3,000 off the pintsized 2017 Prius C, or financing as low as 0%. We found advertised discounts from $2,500 to $3,000 in most markets, but some — Atlanta and Miami, for example — didn’t list any.
Discounts aren’t nearly as much. Toyota offers up to $500 off or financing as low as 1.9%.
It’s aging, to be sure. The current generation came out more than five years ago, and it’s still-impressive fuel efficiency comes with some disconcerting highway manners.
Still, Toyota added an impressive roster of standard crashavoidance features to the hatchback for 2017.
EDITOR’S CHOICE: FORD MUSTANG
How much can I save? Less than some of the others here in terms of a percentage basis, but still something notable. And that’s for a car we like, no less. (That’s the idea of the Editor’s Choice, a first-time addition to Best Deals.) Mustang sales tumbled 33.3% in August as the 2017 model averaged about 100 days to sell. Now Ford offers $2,500 to $3,000 off the Mustang through Oct. 2, depending on your area. Discount financing runs as low as 1.9%, but these offers exclude the Mustang Shelby GT350.
No, but it doesn’t go on sale until fall.
It did, mostly for its dreadful Recaro seats and relatively underpowered V-8, an issue Ford looks to address for 2018. But most shoppers don’t buy the V-8, which accounts for less than half of new Mustang inventory on Cars.com. With the V-6 nixed for 2018, Ford’s EcoBoost turbo 4-cylinder will soon account for the remainder of Mustang sales — and that EcoBoost garnered enough praise to win our comparison of smallerengine muscle cars.
THE RETURNEES
We focus on cars new to the list or ones we haven’t highlighted in the past few months. But many cars from recent months still have deep discounts in September: