Black Friday Is a Bad Time to Buy a Used Car. These Seven Holidays Are Better

Black Friday is when many of us look through the ads to see if that one special item is finally discounted. But if you’re searching for a used car, it’s actually one of the worst times to buy, according to a new study. A new iSeeCars report, which analyzed over 40 million used-car sales from 2024 and 2025, found that your chances of getting a good deal on a used car vary throughout the year. Black Friday and Thanksgiving are ninth out of ten in terms of the best times to buy. According to the study, your chance of finding a deal is only 9.5 percent. While that ranks above Halloween at tenth with 6.8 percent, it’s far below other times of the year, which occur in the colder months, iSeeCars Executive Analyst Karl Brauer said.:  While Black Friday is considered one of the worst days to buy a used car, several other holidays and months are even worse. Martin Luther King Jr. Day actually comes out on top in the study, with a 65.5 percent chance of buyers getting a good deal, defined as saving at least $2,689 off the average used car price of $26,889. New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day come in second at 58.6 percent, just ahead of the whole month of January at 55.6 percent. Even Christmas Eve gives shoppers a better chance for deals than Black Friday, ranking seventh on the list. The worst times to find deals are in spring and summer, with the Fourth of July and June offering far fewer deals than other times of the year. Father’s Day, Memorial Day, and Mother’s Day are also bad times to buy a used car. So if youre looking for something used, maybe save your money for 2026.