It's The End Of The Year, Are You Buying That New SUV Or Not?
You remember how fun the holiday season was when you were a kid? Waking up to a shiny new bicycle with your name on it, or getting your hands on a PlayStation of your own, or maybe even being given a sweater that you wore until it was falling to pieces. Now that you're more or less grown up, the thrill is rarely the same. Nobody wants to buy you a pair of rollerblades when you're in your thirties.
Base Trim Engine
2.5L Inline 4 Hybrid
Base Trim Transmission
CVT
Base Trim Drivetrain
Front-Wheel Drive
Base Trim Horsepower
226 hp
Segment
Compact SUV
Where research meets the right deal
Maybe you've got a spouse who always comes through with something special, or a dad who still loves to spoil you no matter your age. But, for the most part, you're probably buying your own favorite gift more holiday seasons than not, and so are roughly one third of American drivers. That's according to a survey from our friends at Extreme Terrain, who found that 29% of Americans have bought, or will buy, a new car for themselves for the holidays, with Toyotas like the 2026 RAV4 being especially popular.
Time To Put That Christmas Bonus To Good Use?
2026 Honda CR-V TrailSport Hybrid driving front 3/4 angle in greenHonda
Extreme Terrain polled 1,000 people for this study. Demographically, 12% of respondents identified as Gen Z, 54% as millennials, and 34% identified as Gen X or older. Here are some of the key findings to get us started.
Nearly one in three Americans have bought, or are planning to buy, a vehicle for the holidays.
Holiday vehicle buyers spend an average of $30,000 on the purchase.
One in 10 buyers spent more than $60,000 on a new vehicle for the holidays.
23% of Americans plan to use their holiday bonus for a Q4 purchase, while 14% have already done so.
Social media is a major influencer in the buying decision, with TikTok driving 53% of holiday vehicle purchases.
The most surprising thing about these numbers may be that they're a bit higher than you may have expected. But, if you think about it, it checks out, right? Sooner or later, the vast majority of Americans will have to buy a car, whether we do it in the summer or we wait until the holiday season. During the holiday season, you may have year-end bonuses coming your way, or maybe you want to get a big purchase over and done with before the start of a new year. Maybe your reasoning is simply that December is the perfect month to capitalize on year-end car sales.
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This is to say: it's not so much that people are buying new cars because it's the holiday season, rather, one third of buyers in a given year are waiting until the holiday season to buy a car they already had their eye on. This may have as much to do with year-end bonuses and holiday sales as it has to do with the fact that the holidays are just the excuse you've been waiting for to spoil yourself.
Merry Toyotathon, To All Who Celebrate
2026 Toyota Tacoma TRD Pro in "Wave Maker" blue rear 3/4 angle while driving through mudToyota
Breaking year-end car-buyers down further, here's how the most popular brands shake out.
Toyota
Honda
Ford
Chevrolet
Hyundai
Tesla
Subaru
Jeep
Nissan
BMW
The first thing we think when we look at the list above: That holiday-season really works its magic with Toyotathon and Happy Honda-Days, making a festive, month-long event out of a simple year-end sale. Toyota was popular across all three generation groups, coming in first for Millennials and Gen X, and third for Gen Z, who put Honda in first place.
Related
New Car Prices Just Smashed A Scary Record
People are spending more on new vehicles, and this shows just how much more.
In terms of segments, you again have millennials and Gen X in agreement, both preferring mid-size SUVs, while Gen Z is more likely to buy a small SUV. This undoubtedly owes to price differences, as Gen Z buyers tend to spend around $28,500 on their holiday cars, while millennials will spend around $29,700, and Gen X will spend around $33,200.
End-Of-Year Deals Drive Nearly A Third Of These Purchases
2025 - 2026 Honda Civic Sedan 11th Gen (FE) FaceliftHonda
When asked why they were buying a vehicle at the end of the year, here's how drivers answered.
Reason For Buying A Car During The Holidays
% Of Buyers
Work/commute
35%
End-of-year sales
30%
Previous car became unreliable
25%
Dealer clearance events
24%
Treating yourself
20%
End-of-year bonus
10%
Tax incentives/write-offs
8%
It warms the heart to know that one in five buyers are sealing the deal just because they wanted a car. Buying the vehicle you wanted for no other reason than because it appeals to you is one of life's great joys, whether it's a new 2026 Honda Civic Si, a C4 Corvette that needs a little work, or a semi-classic 1990s model Ford Explorer like your favorite uncle used to drive.
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What's more, 18% of buyers reported a spontaneous purchase, to 80% having planned the buy. We would always advise that you do your homework before making a purchase, but if you wake up one day and decide now's the time to finally get yourself a 2026 Jeep Wrangler, we're happy for you.
What About The People Who Aren't Buying Anything?
2016 Toyota RAV4 Hybrid sideToyota
Among respondents who aren't buying cars, 32% cited an inability to afford a new vehicle, 14% are holding off due to high interest rates, and 16% are waiting until 2026 to make their next big purchase. 37% of holiday car buyers admit that the purchase affected their ability to buy gifts for others, and 53% of Gen Z car buyers had to dip into their savings for the purchase, so holding off might not be a bad idea for some.
Is The Holiday Season Really The Best Time To Buy A New Car?
2025 Ford F-150 Lobo exteriorFord
The holiday season might or might not be the best time to buy a new vehicle, depending on your resources, your income, your needs, and a dozen other factors. The holiday season sees plenty of year-end sales, and prices tend to be provably lower at the end of the year, at least according to Consumer Reports' Mike Quincy, who told Yahoo! Finance that one of the reasons you can get a better deal is because the sales staff actually sees less foot traffic in the colder months, when they need to get rid of old inventory. And this extends into February.
At the same time, all of the sales and bonuses and opportunities that come around in November and December create a sense of FOMO, or fear of missing out, and the holidays are the perfect excuse to splurge. We don't want to discourage anyone from buying the car of their dreams, but there are a few points to consider before you hand over your down payment and sign on the dotted line.
Have you done your research? Is this really the car you want, or is it simply "close enough" for the price? Don't let a good sale price trick you into a disappointing purchase, because even cheap cars aren't all that cheap.
Is it in your budget? You might have a bonus check in your pocket, but you're most likely financing the purchase, which means you're still going to be paying for this car, month after month, long after that bonus is spent.
Is this really the best deal you're going to get? We recently covered Black Friday sales, and the fact that these deals don't always save you any money over what you'd be spending on a random Tuesday next February. Out-of-date models tend to get cheaper month after month, with or without a holiday sale to motivate the buyer.
What does it cost to own the car you're buying? BMWs can be had at a hefty discount every December, but RepairPal estimates a typical BMW to cost around $968 in maintenance every year, compared to just $551 for a Lexus. And that's mostly routine maintenance like oil changes. You need to consider the price of purchase, plus insurance, plus fuel expenses, plus maintenance, and maybe depreciation, if you plan on trading your car in five years down the line.
Is the car reliable? If a car is known for catastrophic failures, if it has some pending recalls that the automaker is trying to get out of paying for, you might want to keep shopping around.
If you've done your homework, then by all means, take advantage of holiday sales and buy the car of your dreams right now. Just don't rush into an unwise purchase simply because you've earned a little treat.
Sources: Extreme Terrain, RepairPal, Yahoo! Finance.
