What to look for in 'End of Financial Year' offers

With tax time rolling around, June is often the best time to get into a new car

Manufacturers are keen to offer discounts on stock before the end of financial year, and buyers’ benefit from added bonuses thrown in.

To help find the best deals this end of financial year, we’ve put together a handy shopping list of what to look for with each brand.

FINANCE OFFERS

With particularly low interest rates to encourage shoppers to spend more, manufacturers will often pass on low finance rates to customers to make getting into a new car as easy on their budget as possible.Finance offers can check off a big item on your shopping list when buying a car. Instead of shopping around for every finance rate in town, you can compare major lenders (such as your bank or credit union) with the rate offered by the dealership, which will give you the lowest rates available.

Particularly with the government’s accelerated depreciation on purchases under $30,000 before June 30, it’s generally a good time for small businesses to make the most of the benefits to your cashflow.And if you didn’t know, comparison rates refer to the cost of the loan over the set lifetime. For example, while a bank may offer you a marginally lower rate, when you take into account charges and fees (like establishment fees and monthly charges) across the lifetime of the loan, it may work out to be more expensive. When manufacturers offer ‘comparison rate finance’, it often means that the rate advertised is the rate that will be charged for a set amount over a set period of time (i.e. a $30,000 loan over 5 years.

RUNOUT OFFERS

Mid-year, brands are often keen to sell as many of a model that is in its final or close to final production. This results in runouts of models with deep discounts or factory bonuses to shift stock. Sometimes, there are huge factory bonuses added on top of deep discounts off the price – but stock will be limited.

Added bonuses are sometimes piled on top of discounts already on some demonstrator models available with incredibly low kilometres.

FACTORY BONUSES

End of Financial Year means manufacturers are keen to add value to their cars, in order to make them even more attractive to buyers. This can be anything from a bounty of accessories to generous on-road allowances.

Free on-road costs (CTP, stamp duty and registration costs) are sometimes included, which means you can get on the road with no hassles, and have one less thing to budget for when looking at vehicles. Look out for free auto (which is usually a cost option) or extended warranty, roadside assist or capped price servicing lengths - these can save thousands in the long run (even though you might not notice it when you first pick up your car!) ​